The Expedition: June Edition

This new series covers the most useful stuff I’ve discovered exploring the world and the internet this month.

Why it matters: You’ll learn about a critical longevity test, the truth about artificial sweeteners and saturated fat, the downsides of too much muscle, and a couple of dumb observations.

Housekeeping:

• The full version of this post is for Members, who are people who want to have fun and not die.
• If you’d like to be a Member/have fun and not die, please consider becoming a Member below.
• An important question: Did you or did you not Burn the Ships today?

Onto today’s post: The Expedition

This series is a journey into thoughts, opinions, ideas, observations, studies, facts, figures, etc. Good ones, bad ones, insightful ones, dumb ones, and ones you can use to live better.

It’s a roundup of all the worthwhile stuff I’ve encountered in the last month. It’s a bit of an island of misfit toys. But, hey, the greatest journeys are winding. Enjoy …

A book I read: Psych, by Paul Bloom

Bloom is one of the world’s leading psychologists. He took his famous Psychology 101 course, which he teaches at Yale, and turned it into a book.

It provides a solid and fun overview of the science of psychology.

By the numbers

84

That’s the percent more likely to die people who couldn’t balance on one leg for 10 seconds were. The study looked at people ages 51 to 75. The finding held even after adjusting for age, weight, and chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension. Here’s what the data looked like:

Want to improve your balance? Get strong. Do power exercises like jumps, hops, and sprints. Strength helps with balance, and being able to shoot an arm or leg out quickly saves you from falling.

$8,251 …

… is the cost of following an online fitness influencer health routine. This bill includes stuff like a cold plunge tub, WHOOP band, Athletic Greens and LMNT supplement, InsideTrack blood analysis, etc. By the way, after the upfront cost, you’ll pay a minimum of $241 a month to maintain the products that require a subscription.