Your Weekly Blueprint for Living Well

This week I found some great tips you’ve probably heard before, but it’s always nice to be reminded of what works when it comes to living a healthy life. From the power of coffee and friendship to simple ways to move more and eat smarter, these small habits can make a big difference in how long and how well you live.

Trending in Health this Week

  • Best News I’ve Read: Burpees might be bad for you—physical therapists say they can strain your back and shoulders, and there are safer ways to get the same workout.

  • Good News for Coffee Lovers: A new study suggests that drinking a mix of coffee, tea, and water—around 7–8 total cups a day—may be linked to longer life. If so, that would be nice.

  • Supercharge Your Workout: Eggs, sweet potatoes, and nuts top experts’ list of foods that fuel energy and recovery. Remember though, given the state of nutrition science, use moderation.

  • The Benefits of Giving Your Time: Volunteering just a few hours a week may help older adults keep their minds sharp and spirits high. Also, aerobic, and particularly anaerobic activity is great for this.

  • Peanut Allergies Plunge: Rates of peanut allergy in young children fell by about 40% after guidelines advised early peanut-introduction in infancy. Read FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s book Blind Spots on how groupthink in medicine produces unsafe recommendations.

  • Lentils for Life: Packed with protein, fiber, and nutrients, lentils support heart health and steady blood sugar. Try and add them to your diet.

  • Even light drinking may raise dementia risk (shoot): a study of 550,000 adults found that a three-fold increase in alcohol consumption was tied to a 15% higher lifetime risk of dementia. Focus heavily on the may part of that sentence.

  • Can Apple Cider Vinegar Help You Lose Weight? Probably not. While it may help with blood sugar and cholesterol, the evidence for meaningful weight loss is weak.

  • Cannabis and Sleep: Low-dose CBD products may help you drift off to sleep, but heavy or frequent THC use can actually hurt sleep over time, not to mention causing many other issues.

  • Take an “Exercise Snack”: Short bursts of activity—like 2-5 minutes of climbing the stairs, squats or walking fast—can boost fitness and muscular endurance, especially for less active adults.

  • Here are 11 steps you can take to lower your cancer risk.

MAHA Targets Saturated Fats

The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement is stirring up controversy by advocating for full-fat dairy, red meat, and butter—a sharp departure from decades of nutritional advice.

Key Points:

  • The government may soon lift the recommended limit on saturated fat consumption above the current less than 10% of daily calories.

  • Many scientists are alarmed—saturated fats raise “bad” cholesterol and are associated with higher heart-disease risk, especially when coming from red and processed meat.

  • The nuance lies in what you replace saturated fat with: swapping it for healthy fats helps but replacing it with processed carbs offers little benefit.

  • Even if guidelines shift, experts agree: increasing plant-based foods (beans, whole grains, vegetables) remains one of the most reliable ways to reduce disease risk.

My thoughts: The question about saturated fats (fats that are solid at room temperature) causing heart disease goes back to the associations found in the 1950s. Does it cause heart disease by building up bad cholesterol (LDL) in blood vessels? Probably doesn’t make sense to start eating a lot more lard, ice cream, and French fries. Hopefully, someday soon, we will get two answers: 1) Do foods high in saturated fats cause heart disease? and, 2) If so, is it bad for some people but not bad for others?

Our Brains Need Friends

“I really think you should spend more time socializing. Your brain is counting on you.” That quote, highlighted in The Wall Street Journal’s review of the new book Why Brains Need Friends: The Neuroscience of Social Connection, captures the book’s message perfectly: human connection isn’t optional—it’s essential to brain health.

Key Points:

  • Social isolation raises mortality risk by about 50% and speeds cognitive decline.

  • Meaningful interactions release oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine—chemicals that strengthen mood, immunity, and resilience.

  • Modern conveniences like remote work and delivery apps can quietly shrink our “social diet.”

  • Like sleep, diet, and exercise, regular connection is a core pillar of well-being.

Time to get out and socialize, friends.

The Longevity Secrets of a Centenarian

In a recent Washington Post article, a 101-year-old reflects on his long, eventful life—including surviving a coma, heart attack, hip fracture and war missions—and shares the habits he believes helped him thrive.

Key Points:

  • Relationships matter: Married for 76 years, Liberman credits his enduring relationship as a pillar of emotional stability and longevity.

  • Lifestyle choices matter: He avoided smoking, stayed physically active, and kept mentally engaged by continuing to write past retirement.

  • Access to care and resilience: Modern medicine and regular check-ups helped him recover from major health events, but he also emphasizes luck and a positive outlook.

Inspirational Quote

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

—Ben Franklin

Also: “Knowledge is good.”
—Emil Faber, founder of Faber College in Animal House.


Have a great week,

-Richard

Richard Williams