How We Die, A Great Exercise, Lab-Grown Meat, Sleep, and More ...
17 ideas to improve your life this month.
Housekeeping
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Audio version
Listen on the Substack player. Hit the play icon in this post in the Substack app. Warning: The Expedition posts are better read because they include many graphs and videos.
The post
The Expedition is our monthly journey into thoughts, opinions, ideas, observations, studies, facts, figures, etc.
Good ones, insightful ones, interesting ones, weird ones, and ones you can use to live well and long.
It’s a roundup of all the worthwhile stuff I’ve discovered in the last month. The Expedition is a bit of an island of misfit toys. But, hey, the greatest journeys are winding.
This month, we’re covering:
Numbers on:
The health impacts of artificial sweeteners.
Serial killers.
Murder rates.
Ideal protein amount for strength and muscle.
Book readership among male vs. female authors.
Men and friendship.
The group most at risk of suicide.
Sleep and calorie intake.
An improving world.
What people around the world die from today.
Changes in the top employers in every state and what that tells us about health.
A new exercise I LOVE (from one of the brightest minds in fitness).
New and disgusting findings about the real paleo diet.
Why Spain and France are losing weight.
Brilliant words on why reading might be better than listening to podcasts.
An important parting question about lab-grown meat.
The best parting shot we’ve ever run.
Let’s roll …
By the numbers
0
Effect artificial sweeteners had on body size and heart disease risk. That was the conclusion of scientists who analyzed data from nine different studies.
Their work suggests that diet drinks are neutral for health markers and body weight.
1987
Peak year for American serial killers. That year had 128 active killers who’d murdered three or more victims.
For comparison, 2015 (the most recent with available data) had just 15 active serial killers.
1980
The peak decade for serial killers in the U.S. The data:
14.9
Percent decrease in the American murder rate in 2024 compared to 2023.
0
Difference in muscle growth, strength, or body composition when lifters ate three servings of protein per day versus five.
Both groups ate about the same amount of total daily protein. This suggests that eating enough protein overall matters more than timing.
The 10 …
… bestselling male authors had 55 percent male readership and 45 percent female readers.
The 10 …
… bestselling female authors had 19 percent male readership and 81 percent female readers.
25
Percent of men aged 15 to 35 said they had experienced “a lot” of loneliness the previous day.
1 in 7
Young men today say that they have no close friends. In 1990, that figure was 3 percent.
Source: The great
in this article.17
Times more men over 85 commit suicide than women over 85. Men over 85 have the highest suicide rate of any group. The data:
Possible reasons: Men attempt suicide with guns, which are more lethal. “Other reasons for the high rates of suicide among older men are social stressors like retirement, divorce, and financial instability, combined with particularly masculine traits that make these factors harder for them to adapt to,” writes Olivia Goldhill in Stat News.
162
Fewer daily calories consumed by people who slept less than 6.5 hours when they started sleeping one hour more. As participants added more sleep time, their average decrease in calories was 270.
They didn’t exercise more; they just ate less without planning to.
>30
Percent of Swedish children died before the age of five in the 1700s. Today, just 0.25 of the same age group dies. It’s a good time to be alive …
Speaking of that …
What people around the world die from today
Read chapter 8 of Scarcity Brain for more information about the riddle of heart disease—and how to beat it.
Top employer by state
What might this suggest about the health of the nation?
(Nevada is holding strong with our well-oiled casinos and broken healthcare system.)
A new exercise I love
After I returned from my 45-day hike a gaunt 167 pounds, I started working with Josh Bryant.
Josh is one of the wisest, most practical minds in strength training. His approach is no-frills. He respects research but realizes lab studies are limited. He’s informed by years in the trenches, setting world records, and coaching some of the strongest humans on Earth (like this guy).
After three months, I’ve added 15 pounds of muscle and have never been stronger. (Reach out to him here).
Here’s an exercise he’s had me do that I love. It’s great for anyone who has a body and wants to keep it useful and strong.
It improves core strength and teaches you to brace your core, which carries over to most activities, protects your back, and enhances your ability to perform most lower-body exercises.
It works your back and teaches you to contract your upper back. That improves your posture under load for rucking and everyday activities, like carrying your kid or groceries.
It improves your hip and glute strength, especially while standing on one leg. That boosts balance, stability, and power while running or rucking.
It tests your mindset.