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Issue #6 - Reply To Help Shape Weekly.health
The latest nutrition research, actionable tips to improve your health, a how higher protein intake may pose a risk to diabetes post-menopause, and more.
James K
August 01, 2025
Welcome to Weekly.health’s sixth 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.
🗒️ In This Issue:
🔢 This week on Weekly.health
🔬 Longevity Spotlight: NAD⁺, protein intake & oral health
📈 Research Digest: What’s new in nutrition science
🍏 What Do You Want From Weekly.health? & Your Questions Answered
❤️ Support Weekly.health: Help us keep the research flowing
📘 Glossary of Terms: Definitions for technical terms in this issue
🔢 This week on Weekly.health
More than 2,500 Weekly.health emails have been sent. We think that’s a great start for a five-week-old newsletter.
If you’re new this issue, welcome to evidence-based research sent weekly!
This issue is a little shorter than normal as we evaluate the best content to bring you in the future. You may notice our issues change a little over time as we learn more.
We recently started trialing a few product recommendations in this newsletter. This won’t affect the content we publish, as our main focus is to provide you with some of the latest health and nutrition research. We will tailor these recommendations based on the research we write about, not the other way around.
We have many readers from both the USA and UK and so we’ll include links for each country.
If any of our product recommendations are interesting to you, making a purchase is one of a few ways you can help to support our work on Weekly.health.
🔬 Longevity Spotlight: NAD⁺, Protein Intake & Oral Health
If there’s any intervention you’re likely to hear about to slow ageing, raising NAD⁺ is the one. Found in every cell, this molecule fuels everything from energy production to DNA repair, and it naturally declines as we age.
But can topping it up actually keep us younger for longer?
This week, we review a recent study on raising NAD⁺, how protein intake may influence diabetes risk, and how our oral microbiome can become compromised as we age.
Block CD38 to boost NAD⁺ and slow ageing: A recent study on aged mice found an enzyme that breaks down NAD⁺, a molecule vital for energy, DNA repair, and healthy ageing - rises significantly with age and age-related disease. Inhibiting CD38 preserved NAD⁺ levels, improved mitochondrial function, and enhanced muscle and heart performance. The study also looked at alternative ways to raise NAD⁺, such as supplementing NMN and NR, which significantly raise NAD⁺ levels. (source)
 | NAD⁺ was popularised in recent years through the work of Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School for his research on ageing and epigenetics. In his book Sinclair highlights NAD⁺ precursor supplements such as NMN as promising compounds to activate longevity-related pathways like sirtuins and reduce age-related decline. Weekly.health may be compensated when you buy. Your purchase helps to support us to continue this newsletter. |
Higher protein intake post-menopause may pose a higher risk of diabetes:
An 18-month study of 84 postmenopausal women found that higher blood levels of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) - from protein-rich foods like meat and dairy - were linked to greater insulin resistance, regardless of whether they took supplements or not. The study initially looked at whether whey or carbohydrate supplements might influence BCAA levels, finding that these supplements had relatively little influence, but protein intake from other sources may have been high enough in some individuals to begin with. While protein is key for muscle and bone health, this hints that too much may nudge blood sugar control in the wrong direction in older women. (source)
Dental hygiene is key for our oral microbiome with age:
As we get older, our oral microbiome - home to 700+ species of bacteria - becomes less diverse, with fewer “good” bacteria and more pathogens like Rothia and Mycoplasma. This systematic review found that while the overall mix stays somewhat stable, older adults consistently show reduced bacterial richness, linked to gum disease and even pneumonia. To support oral (and overall) health, maintaining good dental hygiene by brushing and flossing regularly, seeing your dentist every six months, and possibly using some oral probiotics. (source)
📈 Research Digest: What’s New in Nutrition Science
Here’s the best of recent nutrition research:
🥩 Grass-Fed Lamb Boosts Blood Omega-3s
A recent study found grass-fed lamb to contain more omega-3 and less omega-6 fatty acids, improving the 3-to-6 ratio often associated with reduced inflammatory risk. The study was small, but showed, primarily, a statistically significant 25% increase in plasma levels of EPA - a key omega-3 fatty acid. All things being equal, grass-fed meat is likely to be healthier than grain-fed meat. (source)
USA readers: Try ButcherBox to get free grass-fed steaks with every order for one year.
UK readers: Get £10 off a £40 spend at Piper’s Farm for award-winning 100% grass-fed meats. Shop sustainable meat and seasonal recipes.
🕐 Fasting Windows That Work for Heart Health
A review of 56 trials with nearly 4,000 adults found that modified alternate-day fasting (mADF - eating only 25% of calories every other day) reduces body weight by 5.2 kg, waist by 3.6 cm, and blood pressure significantly. Time-restricted eating (TRE - like the 16:8 method) improved blood sugar and diastolic pressure. Both methods are effective tools for reducing cardiovascular risk. If you prefer structured meal times, try TRE. If you're comfortable with stricter fasting, mADF may yield faster results. (source)
🧠 Eat Like This to Protect Your Brain and Heart
A recent review found that the MIND diet (rich in leafy greens, berries, nuts, fish, and olive oil) may reduce both heart disease and Alzheimer’s risk. Its brain-boosting nutrients (like vitamin E and omega-3s) help lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol and glucose levels, and may reduce amyloid plaque build-up. Stick to whole foods, skip the fried stuff, and add more colour to your plate for long-term heart and brain health. (source)
🍏 What Do You Want From Weekly.health? & Your Questions Answered
In place of our weekly topic, we have an important favour to ask of you.
Weekly.health is the result of many hours of research and writing about the latest health research. We have also reviewed interesting topics of health such as the role of dietary fat, the mediterranean diet, and if organic foods really are better for you, with even more hours devoted to give you accurate and evidence-based takeaways.
But we don’t know if we’re on the right track.
Is this newsletter serving its purpose of providing you with useful research that you can use to improve your health, or are we focusing on the wrong areas?
Please reply to this email to let us know what you would like to see in future Weekly.health issues.
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🙏 Thanks for Reading!
That’s the end of this issue of Weekly.health. A slightly shorter-than-normal issue this week, but we hope you learned something useful to help you on your nutritional journey.
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.
We’re based in England, so if you’re over the pond, you might notice a few strange spellings.
Our goal is to make cutting-edge, evidence-based nutrition advice simple, useful, and genuinely applicable to everyday life.
We don’t want to bombard you with adverts, but a few of the links in this email may reward us when you click and make a purchase. This goes towards helping us to continue bringing you this newsletter.
We’ll keep improving with every issue. If you’ve got any feedback or suggestions, we’d love to hear them (just reply to this email).
See you next week!
📖 Glossary of Terms in This Issue (Alphabetical Order)
Term | Definition |
|---|---|
16:8 Method | A form of time-restricted eating where all food is consumed within an 8-hour window (e.g., 12–8 p.m.), followed by 16 hours of fasting. |
Amyloid Plaque | Protein clumps that build up in the brain and are associated with Alzheimer's disease. Reducing their formation is a key goal in dementia prevention. |
BCAAs (Branched-Chain Amino Acids) | A group of essential amino acids—leucine, isoleucine, and valine—linked to muscle growth but also insulin resistance in high amounts, especially in older adults. |
CD38 | An enzyme that degrades NAD⁺. Its activity increases with age, and blocking it may help preserve cellular energy and slow ageing. |
Diastolic Pressure | The bottom number in a blood pressure reading, representing pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between beats. |
EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) | A type of omega-3 fatty acid found in fatty fish and grass-fed meats. It’s associated with reduced inflammation and cardiovascular protection. |
MIND Diet | A hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH diets focused on protecting brain health. Emphasises leafy greens, berries, nuts, olive oil, and fish. |
Modified Alternate-Day Fasting | A fasting approach where participants consume only ~25% of daily calories every other day. Shown to reduce weight, waist size, and blood pressure. |
Mitochondrial Function | Refers to how well mitochondria (the "powerhouses" of cells) produce energy. Decline in this function is linked to ageing and fatigue. |
NAD⁺ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) | A molecule found in every cell that supports energy production, DNA repair, and healthy ageing. Levels decline with age. |
NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) | A precursor to NAD⁺ that may help increase NAD⁺ levels in cells. Often used in anti-ageing supplements. |
NR (Nicotinamide Riboside) | Another NAD⁺ precursor studied for boosting cellular energy and activating longevity pathways. |
Omega-3 to Omega-6 Ratio | The balance between these two types of fatty acids. A lower ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is thought to reduce inflammation. |
Oral Microbiome | The community of over 700 bacterial species living in the mouth. A diverse oral microbiome is linked to better gum, respiratory, and systemic health. |
Oxidative Stress | An imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants that damages cells. Linked to ageing and chronic disease. |
Plasma EPA | The amount of EPA (an omega-3) measured in the blood. Often used as a marker for anti-inflammatory dietary status. |
Protein Requirement | The amount of protein an individual needs daily. Influenced by age, activity, muscle mass, and health goals. Too much may impair blood sugar in older women. |
Rothia | A genus of bacteria in the mouth that increases with age and may contribute to gum disease. |
Sirtuins | A family of proteins involved in ageing, inflammation, and DNA repair. Activated by NAD⁺ and some calorie restriction pathways. |
Time-Restricted Eating (TRE) | A fasting pattern where food is eaten within a daily time window (e.g., 8–10 hours), with no food outside that window. |
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