Issue #1 - Live Longer Through Diet

Welcome to Weekly.health’s first issue. Every week, we explore cutting-edge research, actionable advice, and science-backed nutrition insights to help you live longer and healthier.

Our aim is to help you live another 10 healthy years and cut your risk of age-related disease.

Help us shape Weekly.health by answering this week’s poll further down — we need to know whether we’re providing the right level of detail for you.

🗒️ In This Issue:

• 🔬 Longevity Spotlight: Quick hacks to boost cellular health

• 📈 Research Digest: What’s New in Nutrition Science

• 🍵 Routine Tip of the Week: Upgrade Your Morning Brew

• 💡 3-minute Nutrition Lesson: Become a Fat Expert

• ❓ Weekly Poll: Tell us your experience of Weekly.health this week

• 📖 Glossary of Terms: Definitions for technical terms in this issue

🔬 Longevity Spotlight: Quick Hacks to Boost Cellular Health

Research often shows that improving our ability to live longer (our longevity) and live healthier for longer (our healthspan) isn’t actually a difficult task. Here are a few reasonably-easy quick hacks to a longer life, based on research:

• Eat more high-quality carbs: Replace 10% of total carb intake with wholegrains, fruit, vegetables, and legumes, for a 31% higher chance of healthy ageing. (source)

• Meditate to slow ageing: 20-30 minutes of meditation daily has been shown to preserve telomeres (allowing cells to continue dividing for longer), reduce chronic inflammation and enhance cell repair. (source)

• Eat a daily handful of blueberries: Evidence shows blueberries reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, and improve blood-vessel function. What does this mean? Lower blood pressure, improved circulation, and better delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissues, all which may slow the onset of age-related cognitive decline, heart disease, and frailty. (source)

👉 We love blueberries so much we grow our own. If you have the space to plant them, we recommend at least four and up to eight plants per person to produce a handful per day during the growing season.

📈 Research Digest: What’s New in Nutrition Science

Here’s the best of recent nutrition research:

🥑 Eat A Late Breakfast To Control Blood Sugar
Delaying breakfast to around 10:30 a.m. has been shown to significantly improve blood sugar control after lunch compared to both skipping breakfasts and eating breakfast earlier. In this study, all meals studied were carbohydrate-rich. (source)

🏋️ High Protein Diets Reduce Calorie Consumption
This study found that even when consuming ultra-processed foods, a diet of 30% protein (versus 18%) reduces calorie consumption by around 196 kcal daily, and participants burn 128 kcal more. If you do nothing else, increase your protein intake to reduce overeating and control your appetite to manage your weight more effectively. (source)

💪 High-Carb & Protein-Timed Diets Boost Performance in Active Women
A systematic review found that active women who consumed high-carb meals before exercise improved their performance, and spreading protein intake evenly (25g+ per meal, 5–6 times a day) boosted muscle growth. Supplements like caffeine, nitric oxide precursors, and β-alanine also enhanced athletic performance. To maximise your exercise results, eat carb-rich meals pre-workout, regularly consume protein-rich foods, and consider performance-enhancing supplements if needed. (source)

🍵 Routine Tip of the Week: Upgrade Your Morning Brew

• Replace cow’s milk with plant-based alternatives to reduce inflammatory markers, improve cholesterol, reduce blood pressure, and improve the post-meal insulin response. (source)

• Replace coffee with green tea to enhance cognitive health. One cup daily has been shown to lead to a 30% lower risk of cognitive decline. Coffee showed no benefit. The study was conducted in Japan where the tea is often consumed unsweetened, without milk, and in loose-leaf form instead of bags. (source)

👉 We have been importing fresh, loose leaf green tea from Japan for more than 15 years. Here’s where we order from: Yuuki-cha

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💡 3-minute Nutrition Lesson: Become a Fat Expert

Ahem.. an expert on fat.

Fat often gets a bad rap, but it’s one of the most essential nutrients in your diet. Misconceptions in the industry led us to believe for decades that fat makes you fat, but the science isn’t so simple.

Here's why fat matters, how different types affect your health, and how to optimise your intake. To continue learning, click through to the sources next to several points.

Why is Fat Important?

Fat is a macronutrient that provides 9 kcal per gram - more than double the energy from protein or carbohydrates (both provide 4 kcal/g). This makes fat a dense source of energy.

But fat does much more than fuel your body:

• It insulates your organs and helps regulate body temperature

• It forms the structure of every cell membrane in your body

• It’s essential for absorbing fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K)

• It plays a role in hormone production and brain function

Types of Fat: The Good, the Bad, and the Confusing

Fatty acids are the building blocks of fat. They fall into several categories;

• Saturated fat is mostly found in animal products (butter, lard, cheese) and is solid at room temperature. While once thought to be strongly linked to heart disease, newer evidence suggests it's more about what you replace saturated fat with. Swapping it for refined carbs offers little benefit—but replacing it with unsaturated fats can lower cardiovascular risk. (source)

• Unsaturated fat is typically liquid at room temperature and comes from plants and fish.

  • Monounsaturated fats, like those in olive oil and avocados, have been linked to improved heart health and lower inflammation. (source)

  • Polyunsaturated fats (like those in sunflower oil, flaxseed, walnuts, and oily fish) include omega-3s, which support brain and cardiovascular function. (source)

• Trans fats are the most harmful type. Industrial trans fats, once common in baked goods, margarine, and fried foods, are strongly linked to heart disease and inflammation. They’ve now been largely banned or phased out in most countries. (source)

How to Optimise Your Fat Intake

• Don’t fear fat, but be mindful of which fats you eat.

• Minimise trans fats to less than 1% of calories and limit saturated fat from processed meats and fast food to less than 10%. (WHO guidelines)

• Prioritise unsaturated fats: cook with olive oil, add avocado to meals, snack on nuts and seeds, eat oily fish 2–3 times a week.

• Replace at least 5% of your daily calories from saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat. This may reduce your risk of heart disease by 25%. (source)

• Eat more fatty fish like sardines and mackerel. Even consider Omega-3 supplements. Omega‑3 fats may help reduce the risk of dementia and depression, and support overall longevity. (source)

• For most people, fats should make up around 30% of daily calories or less, with a focus on unsaturated fats. (WHO guidelines)

Example: A Day of Healthy Fats

• Breakfast: Porridge made with oat milk, topped with chia seeds and blueberries

• Lunch: Grilled mackerel salad with olive oil dressing and walnuts

• Snack: Apple slices with almond butter

• Dinner: Lentil curry with coconut milk, served with brown rice and a side of steamed greens

• Optional: 1–2 squares of 85% dark chocolate

💡 Food Spotlight: Avocados

This week's highlighted food supports cardiovascular health, lowers total and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, is associated with 50% lower odds of metabolic syndrome (source), lower BMI, and waist circumference… and tastes like a chef’s kiss.

Avocado is an excellent source of monounsaturated fatty acids and fibre, two of the nutrients that have been associated with healthier ageing.

Why you should be eating more avocado:

• 2+ servings per week is liked to a 16% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and 21% lower risk of coronary heart disease. (source)

• Data from 17,000+ adults shows people who consume avocado typically have a better quality diet, thinner wastes, and more of the good cholesterol. (source)

• It could help you look a little younger. Daily consumption improves facial skin elasticity and firmness. (source)

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🙏 Thanks for Reading!

That’s a wrap on the very first issue of Weekly.health. We hope it gave you a few practical wins and maybe even sparked a small change to support your long-term health.

This newsletter is written by a small, independent team, led by James — who’s been following nutrition science for nearly 20 years and is now working towards a formal, industry-recognised qualification.

Our goal is to make cutting-edge, evidence-based nutrition advice simple, useful, and genuinely applicable to everyday life.

We’ll keep improving with every issue. If you’ve got any feedback or suggestions, we’d love to hear them.

See you next week!

📖 Glossary of Terms in This Issue (Alphabetical Order)