Happy Monday. Big shout out to everyone who replied to our emails over the last two weeks 🥳 

Scroll to the end to see the lucky winner.

Now, here’s what you’ll find in today’s issue:

• 🏋️ Creatine isn’t just for bodybuilders: benefits you need to know.

• 😮‍💨 Calm stress with a sigh? The surprisingly simple way to do it.

• 🧴 TikTok says to ditch SPF, but the experts say not so fast.

• ☠️ Plus, the story of a vegan food delivery service gone wrong.

Let’s get into it.

THIS WEEK’S FEATURE

Should Everyone Take Creatine? The Reason I’m Adding It to My Routine ASAP

When you hear the word creatine, you probably conjure up images of jacked gym bros and bodybuilders.

If you don’t spend a lot of time in the weight room, you’d be forgiven for thinking that creatine supplementation is unnecessary. However, creatine may just be one supplement darling that we should all consider taking — regardless of our workout routines (or lack thereof).

If this surprises you, know that it surprised me too, because up until I started researching this, I had never considered taking creatine. It wasn’t until I got a couple reader suggestions last week (thanks Tiana & Matt!) that I decided to dive into this topic – and now creatine is on my list of supplements to try. Let’s start with the facts.

What is Creatine?

Creatine is an amino acid, which serves as the building blocks of protein and works as a form of energy. Every time your muscles contract, that’s creatine at work, and if you have low creatine, it means your muscles can’t be used to their full potential.

If you’re a carnivore, getting creatine is fairly easy, as it’s found in red meat and seafood. It’s also naturally produced in the body, with your liver, kidneys and pancreas producing about 1 gram of creatine per day. Supplementing above this amount may have some potential benefits, regardless of your age, gender or fitness level.

So, Should You Supplement It? The Benefits

In a world where no one seems to agree on anything, I found a near total consensus on the effectiveness and safety of this supplement. Seriously – practically every doctor, influencer, and nutritionist I came across agreed that creatine has little downsides and plenty of benefits.

With that being said, here are the three main benefits of adding creatine to your supplement stack.

1. Increases Muscle Growth (and Importantly, Prevents Muscle “Wasting”)

Muscle growth is probably the most obvious benefit because it’s why most people take creatine However, even if you could care less about being shredded, gaining and keeping muscle mass is super important.

That’s because strong clinical trials have shown that stronger muscles are linked to longer lifespans. See, as you age, your muscles become weaker in a process known as sarcopenia. This is dangerous because muscle strength is a predictor of all-cause mortality, meaning the weaker the muscles, the higher chance of death. Yikes.

Luckily, supplementing with creatine daily can help build muscle and reverse the muscle wasting process, which may help you live longer.

2. May Boost Brain Function

If you’re into brains as much as you’re into brawn, good news: one study says that creatine may actually make you smarter and improve your short-term memory. Another recent study shows that creatine may be especially beneficial to improve cognition for vegans and vegetarians who may not get enough creatine from their diets.

3. May Treat Depression and Improve Mood

Creatine may also prove to be a big player in treating mood disorders. Early tests show that 3-5g/day of creatine monohydrate could be an option for treating major depression and improving mood, according to multiple studies.

What About the Downsides?

There are rumors that creatine has downsides like weight gain, balding and kidney damage. With a little more digging, here is what I found.

• Weight Gain – Here’s the thing about creatine: it’s an osmolite, which means it pulls water into the muscle tissue, making them look bigger (nice!). So while it doesn’t cause fat gain, it may cause minor weight gain overall because of the water weight.

• Balding – This belief stems from a 2009 study that showed an increase in DHT, which can result in hair loss, in male athletes who supplemented creatine. However, it’s important to note that the findings of this study have never been replicated and the current body of evidence does not support this claim.

• Kidney Damage – While there has been at least one report that said creatine may have had a negative impact on kidney function in one individual, it is generally regarded as safe for the general population. That being said, if you have kidney disease, you may want to err on the side of caution and not take it.

What Kind of Creatine Should I Take and How Much?

Creatine monohydrate is the most studied form of creatine and the easiest to get, so it seems to be what most experts recommend taking. It comes in a fine powder that can be blended easily in smoothies or added to water. Fun fact: unflavored creatine won’t break a fast (if you’re into that) so you can take it whenever.

So how much should you take? Most sources recommend taking up to 5g/day, although I also found the formula of taking 30 mg per kg of body weight per day.

Here are some other considerations for taking creatine:

• You probably don’t need to “load” or “unload” – The jury is out on whether you need a “loading” and “unloading” phase when it comes to creatine, but it seems that bodybuilders and strength trainers would benefit the most from this practice (if there are benefits).

• Take it consistently for best results – Creatine takes a while to “work” and should be taken consistently for best results, i.e. not just on days when you workout and there is no strong evidence to suggest cycling creatine.

So there you have it. What do you think of creatine? Do you take it? Would you consider adding it to your routine? Reply and let me know.

Thanks for reading. Now go crush your week 💪 

— JC

📈 (Mental) Health Optimization Tip of the Week

Stressed, but no patience for meditation? No problem! Now, you can “sigh” your way to a blissful, stress-free state — it’s scientifically proven! Here’s the gist of how to do the “physiological sigh”:

“Two inhales, followed by an extended exhale”

Yep, it’s that easy. Oh and before you dismiss stress as something completely terrible, know it does have some surprising benefits.

Read more about the physiological sigh:

📱 Trending on TikTok #wellnessTok

The trend: Ditching SPF

According to TikTok, if you want to live the clean girl (or boy) aesthetic, you need to throw out your toxic cosmetic products, asap. This includes SPF, which some TikTokers call an “endocrine disruptor”, but is it really bad for you?

@labmuffinbeautyscience

#stitch I ran out of time to say more, so here's some extra points: 👉 As well as "some affinity" being useless in telling us the type of e... See more

⏯️ Watch it here

With so many different sunscreen formulations, it’s hard to tell. The science is out on whether different ingredients in sunscreen can be harmful. However, it is clear that too much sun is dangerous, with 1 in 5 Americans developing skin cancer in their lifetime.

If you wanna play it safe, one board-certified cosmetic and medical dermatologist recommends you opt for mineral (not chemical) sunscreens that contain ingredients like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.

Should you ditch SPF? What the experts say:

❌ Nope, definitely not 🍊 Maybe ✅  Yes

📆 This Week in Wellness

Every week, we scan the web for the good, the bad and the downright intriguing in the world of health and wellness.

😻 The good:

• A hospital in New York achieved a groundbreaking "domino" transplant in infants, saving an 8-month old and a 2-month old who were both born with congenital heart defects.

👎️ The bad:

• Getting an accurate blood pressure measure is much harder than you think. Discover the problem with one-size-fits-all cuffs. Before you keep scrolling, you should definitely care about your blood pressure, at least according to longevity expert Peter Attia.

🧐 The interesting:

• Didn’t see that one coming: How one food delivery company went from vegan darling to a serious health hazard that put 130 people in the hospital.

💭 Parting Thought

Define “terrifying” though” 😅 

Sounds like a low dopamine baseline to us. Speaking of…

Missed last week’s issue? Read it here 👇️ 

🤑 The winn3r is… 🤑 

Thanks so much to everyone who responded to our emails over the last 2 weeks! Without further ado, the lucky reader getting a little richer is…

Federick G!

Congrats! 🥳 

Although the reward has already been snagged, we still want to hear from YOU! So if you have something to share, go ahead and hit reply.

Until next time ✌️ 

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