FYI - inhalation is a major route for microplastic exposure, particularly to the brain. Brains of Alzheimer's disease patients have been shown to have ~10 times the levels of microplastics than those from people without dementia.

Using a HEPA air purifier improved cognitive function by 12% in middle-aged and older adults. And they only used it for a month! That's a meaningful improvement in a short amount of time, all from a simple purchase you can make for your home.

Exercise and meditation don’t have to compete for your time. You can do both at once. Mindfulness can be practiced during physical activity, including vigorous aerobic exercise. That combination may be especially interesting because aerobic exercise is a powerful stimulus for neuroplasticity, increasing the brain’s capacity to change in response to experience. Pairing the neuroplastic effects of exercise with intentional mental training is an opportunity to cultivate awareness, connection, compassion, or other constructive states of mind. From the latest episode of the FoundMyFitness podcast with @RichieJDavidson.

Five minutes of meditation a day can produce measurable changes well beyond the brain. Dr. Richard Davidson describes new data showing that just 5 minutes of daily meditation for 28 days significantly reduced IL-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine. They also observed changes in the gut microbiome including shifts in pathways involved in the production of the short-chain fatty acid butyrate, which helps maintain intestinal barrier integrity and has important effects on immune and metabolic function. Some of these changes were still detectable up to 3 months after the formal intervention ended! There's a growing body of evidence that training the mind can produce measurable biological effects throughout the body, and meaningful changes may not require hours of meditation every day. New episode with @RichieJDavidson out now!

New episode with Dr. Richard J. Davidson (@RichieJDavidson). He has spent more than four decades asking whether well-being can be trained. His answer is yes—but the training does not have to happen only on a meditation cushion. In this episode, we explore “contemplative aerobics”: combining physical exercise with awareness, connection, insight, or purpose. We can use a run, walk, warm-up, commute, or chore to return attention to the present, see thoughts as transient events, and connect daily effort to something larger than ourselves. Richard explains his four pillars of flourishing, how attention and stress communicate with the immune system, and the incredible evidence linking meditation with inflammation, asthma, and the gut microbiome. We also discuss how generosity and purpose can shift well-being beyond the self and much, much more! The central message is that physical and mental exercise can strengthen one another, and flourishing grows through small practices repeated in ordinary life. This is a can't-miss conversation. Links to the episode on all platforms in the comments below. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:55 - Meditate or exercise? 4:38 - The biology of loneliness 6:18 - Can compassion be trained? 8:48 - Timing meditation around exercise 12:03 - The foundations of flourishing 18:11 - The six emotional styles 25:45 - When emotional styles go too far 27:35 - Shaping the brain on purpose 30:19 - When neuroplasticity backfires 32:06 - The right dose of adversity 35:53 - Why kids stay present 37:47 - Strength training as mindfulness 43:48 - Can mindset change biology? 48:18 - Precision training for the mind 49:59 - Can 5 minutes lower inflammation? 55:08 - The meditation–microbiome link 59:22 - The brain's map of your organs 1:03:56 - The stress-inflammation buffer 1:05:32 - Meditation in motion 1:08:50 - Gratitude at every meal 1:10:34 - When meditation raises anxiety 1:12:58 - Children absorb parental stress 1:18:07 - Can connection extend life? 1:21:04 - How connection curbs self-focus 1:23:35 - Why giving feels better 1:25:54 - Finding purpose in ordinary life 1:30:29 - How curiosity loosens pessimism 1:33:57 - Flourishing without meditation 1:36:28 - Why exercise alone isn't enough

New episode with Dr. Richard J. Davidson (@RichieJDavidson). He has spent more than four decades asking whether well-being can be trained. His answer is yes—but the training does not have to happen only on a meditation cushion. In this episode, we explore “contemplative aerobics”: combining physical exercise with awareness, connection, insight, or purpose. We can use a run, walk, warm-up, commute, or chore to return attention to the present, see thoughts as transient events, and connect daily effort to something larger than ourselves. Richard explains his four pillars of flourishing, how attention and stress communicate with the immune system, and the incredible evidence linking meditation with inflammation, asthma, and the gut microbiome. We also discuss how generosity and purpose can shift well-being beyond the self and much, much more! The central message is that physical and mental exercise can strengthen one another, and flourishing grows through small practices repeated in ordinary life. This is a can't-miss conversation. Links to the episode on all platforms in the comments below. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:55 - Meditate or exercise? 4:38 - The biology of loneliness 6:18 - Can compassion be trained? 8:48 - Timing meditation around exercise 12:03 - The foundations of flourishing 18:11 - The six emotional styles 25:45 - When emotional styles go too far 27:35 - Shaping the brain on purpose 30:19 - When neuroplasticity backfires 32:06 - The right dose of adversity 35:53 - Why kids stay present 37:47 - Strength training as mindfulness 43:48 - Can mindset change biology? 48:18 - Precision training for the mind 49:59 - Can 5 minutes lower inflammation? 55:08 - The meditation–microbiome link 59:22 - The brain's map of your organs 1:03:56 - The stress-inflammation buffer 1:05:32 - Meditation in motion 1:08:50 - Gratitude at every meal 1:10:34 - When meditation raises anxiety 1:12:58 - Children absorb parental stress 1:18:07 - Can connection extend life? 1:21:04 - How connection curbs self-focus 1:23:35 - Why giving feels better 1:25:54 - Finding purpose in ordinary life 1:30:29 - How curiosity loosens pessimism 1:33:57 - Flourishing without meditation 1:36:28 - Why exercise alone isn't enough

Lutein and zeaxanthin may be among the most evidence-backed carotenoids for longevity They accumulate in the brain, where higher lutein levels are associated with greater crystallized intelligence (RCTs show that lutein and zeaxanthin supplementation can improve some measures of cognitive function) Evidence also suggests they may slow progression to advanced macular degeneration in high-risk individuals Kale is exceptionally high in lutein, and both carotenoids can also be obtained from certain multivitamins

More protein does not necessarily mean more muscle. For most people doing resistance training, gains in muscle and strength appear to plateau around 1.6 g/kg/day. But there’s a good reason to push protein higher when the goal is fat loss or body recomposition. Higher protein intake can: - increase satiety and make a calorie deficit easier to sustain - help preserve lean mass so more of the weight lost comes from fat - modestly increase energy expenditure through the thermic effect of food This often gets lost in debates about “optimal” protein intake. You may not need more than ~1.6 g/kg/day to maximize muscle growth, but higher intakes can still be useful when you’re trying to lose fat without losing muscle.

Zinc supplementation improved insulin resistance, inflammation, and oxidative stress in people with diabetes or prediabetes, even though it didn't clearly lower blood glucose. This fits with the biology of zinc. Inside the pancreas, it helps insulin molecules assemble into compact structures so they can be safely stored and released when blood glucose rises. Zinc also supports insulin signaling and antioxidant defenses, both of which can become disrupted in diabetes. This doesn’t mean everyone should supplement. Any benefit may depend heavily on whether someone is getting enough zinc in the first place, while excessive zinc intake carries risks of its own (like interfering with copper absorption).

How this affects the brain: "Exercise improves brain health in the long term, through the deployment of things like BDNF, through the deployment of things like osteocalcin, and on and on. But it also does so by improving your sleep." "If you're slightly sleep deprived, sure go ahead and exercise. That will actually help you offset some of the negative effects of that sleep deprivation, but you want to be careful how you exercise so you don't get sick and you don't get injured." "You don't want to get into a habit of using exercise as a way to compensate for sleep loss." "After about 10 days of not doing any training, that is no cardiovascular training, no resistance training, you start to see significant decrements in brain oxygenation levels." "Rapid eye movement sleep is the kind of king of reshaping your brain connections for the better. Just a little bit of REM deprivation will make you more emotional and will make the painful experiences of recent and distant past also more painful." "Sleep is the thing that mediates many, not all, but many of the positive effects of exercise on brain performance and long-term brain health." @hubermanlab

Should you still exercise if you’re sleep deprived? In most cases, yes. Just don’t make it your hardest workout. A single night of insufficient sleep can worsen insulin sensitivity and increase inflammatory signaling. But studies suggest physical activity can help blunt some of those effects. Long-term data also show that people sleeping fewer than 7 hours per night tend to have higher mortality risk, yet among people meeting physical activity guidelines, much of that excess risk appears to be attenuated. This does not mean you can exercise your way out of chronic sleep deprivation. Sleep is still foundational. But after the occasional bad night, some movement may be one of the better things you can do, even if exercise is often the last thing you feel like doing. From my last appearance on @hubermanlab.

In last week's newsletter, I talked about how resistance training can support cardiovascular health in postmenopausal women. It's not just aerobic exercise! You can now read the issue - and sign up for free - in our archive. We send it out every week.

Plastic chemicals may be one of the more overlooked contributors to declining testosterone levels The pattern starts before birth, when normal testosterone signaling is critical for male sexual development Higher phthalate exposure during pregnancy is associated with undescended testes, hypospadias, and shorter anogenital distance Undescended testes, in particular, carry risks well beyond development (impaired fertility and a major risk factor for testicular cancer) The trend continues into adulthood: large NHANES studies find that men with higher phthalate levels have substantially lower testosterone

Even 10 minutes of very slow running (~35% of VO2 max intensity) elicits a pleasant mood, improves executive function, and activates the prefrontal cortex -

Creatine is a supplement most women should be taking, especially post-menopause. 5 grams/day combined with resistance exercise increases lean mass and muscle strength but has inconsistent effects on bone mineral density. It makes productive training slightly more productive.

Protein timing and distribution are important, but not more important than simply eating enough protein. This doesn’t mean timing is irrelevant. Spreading protein relatively evenly across the day is a reasonable strategy for maximizing opportunities to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. But emerging evidence challenges the idea that the body can only “use” 25-30 grams of protein at a time. In one study, researchers compared 25 g vs. 100 g of protein after exercise. The 100-g dose produced a greater and more prolonged increase in muscle protein synthesis, with very little of the additional amino acids being oxidized. The extra protein wasn’t simply “wasted.” Larger protein meals take longer to digest and absorb, extending the period during which amino acids are available to support tissue protein synthesis. Practically, consuming your daily protein across 2-3 larger meals is not inherently inferior simply because individual meals contain far more than 25-30 grams.

Resistance training is cardiovascular medicine for postmenopausal women. It reduces resting heart rate, blood pressure, and even improves measures of artery stiffness and endothelial function in women aged 52-78. Reminder that it's not just aerobic exercise that's good for the heart!

Nearly 1 in 4 young adults in the U.S. has high blood pressure. That number rises to 1 in 2 for adults aged 40 and over. One nutrient that may help modestly lower blood pressure is magnesium. Magnesium plays an important role in regulating vascular tone. It influences calcium signaling in vascular smooth muscle and pathways involving nitric oxide and prostacyclin, helping blood vessels relax and dilate. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled studies find that magnesium supplementation at a dose of around 370 mg/day for about 3 months reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 2 mmHg each. Magnesium certainly isn’t a replacement for antihypertensive medication when medication is needed. But blood pressure is something we’re exposed to continuously, year after year. Small improvements maintained over decades may matter. That's why knowing your blood pressure (and getting it under control) is so important, even for people in their 20 and 30s.

Want to improve your mood? Change your physiology. I think the science is strongest for these strategies: - Move your body (even briefly) and get outside. - Make your days bright and your nights dark. - Cover your nutritional bases, and consider omega-3s, magnesium, and creatine. They support pathways involved in inflammation, the stress response, and brain energy metabolism. - Use sauna and other forms of deliberate heat exposure strategically.

Infrared versus traditional Finnish sauna, which is better? This is one of the most common sauna questions I receive. My short answer is if I had access to both, I would choose a traditional Finnish sauna. It's the modality behind the strongest long-term evidence where frequent use is associated with lower cardiovascular and all-cause mortality and a lower risk of dementia. Infrared sauna is not useless. It uses radiant heat, but at a much lower air temperature, so many people tolerate longer sessions. However, infrared has not been shown to be equivalent to Finnish sauna. Its evidence base is much smaller, devices and protocols vary widely, and we don’t have comparable long-term data for cardiovascular disease, dementia, or longevity. In a 2025 head-to-head study, traditional sauna raised core temperature, whereas a 45-minute far-infrared session increased skin and body temperature and cardiac output but did not raise core temperature. The thermal dose (and potentially the adaptations) may therefore be different. Choose Finnish sauna when you can. If infrared is all you have, or it’s the sauna you’ll use consistently, use it. There is currently no validated time-for-time conversion between the two.