Good morning. It’s Tuesday, September 17th.

In today’s email:

• Learn: Too Much Metal

• Try: Feeling Heavy?

• Laugh: Originality

• Cook: Grilled Veggie Salad

• In the News: A New Hope for Anxiety

We’re getting real close to the launch of our new product - sign up for the Waitlist to get early access and exclusive pricing of our Personal Longevity Advisor!

Stat of the Day

Brown rice has 80% more arsenic (one of the most toxic substances out there) than white rice. This is because the arsenic holds on to the outer grain. Switch out brown rice for other grains (like quinoa) - especially for kids/infants. (Consumer Reports)

Learn

Too Much Metal

Cinnamon is usually on the breakfast menu for my kids - it’s pretty much a superfood, so it goes on peanut butter toast or Greek yogurt.

That’s why I wasn’t too excited to see the headline that most cinnamon is tainted with heavy metals.

This isn’t rare - I’ve already talked about how my vice of dark chocolate probably comes with the risk of too much lead and cadmium. Just a quick search and you see these reports in all kinds of food - see: Lunchables and Puffs.

Why Should We Care?

Heavy metals - which typically include arsenic, mercury, lead and others (see full list here) - are naturally occurring minerals in the earth. But the problem happens when we get exposed to way too much of these metals.

• Lead leads to neurological problems, including lower IQ in kids and potentially increased risk of Alzheimer’s Disease, as well as blood problems and reproductive issues.

• Mercury damages our nervous system, as well as kidneys.

• Cadmium is a known carcinogen and can stay with us maybe forever.

See the 7 Most Toxic Substances from the CDC (more points are bad):

So what can we do about it?

We can’t avoid all exposure - that’s simply not practical. 

The key for our health & longevity is to avoid consistent exposure. It’s the accumulation of these metals in our brain and body when they have the most problematic effects.

It’s also true that we should help our kids avoid these metals because: 1) they are smaller and thus get a higher exposure per pound of body weight, and 2) they have a lot more years in front of them for this exposure to accumulate and become a bigger problem.

5 Ways to Avoid Heavy Metals

1. Water Filter - we drink water at home every day and yet pretty much every municipal water department delivers drinking water with known contaminants (it’s not just Flint).

For example, here in Tampa we have 198x the recommended maximum of arsenic.

Put in your zip code in the EWG website to find out the quality of your water

…and…

get an AquaTru water filter to remove all of these metals and a Hydroviv filter for your shower (no affiliation).

2. Organic Produce - there are metals in many of the pesticides used on our crops. Again - it’s all about frequency. Just another reason to buy organic for the food you eat (or should eat) on a daily basis. It’s not perfect - but organic should at least have lower concentration of these metals.

3. SMASH Fish - nearly every fish has some mercury in it. But the closer you get to the top of the food chain (tuna, swordfish, shark) the more mercury. Eat smaller, colder water fish - sardines, mackerel, anchovies, salmon, herring - that are wild caught (not farmed).

4. No Brown Rice - brown rice isn’t good (see Stat of the Day). Switch this out for quinoa or other grains. If you do eat rice - eat white rice (it’s really not more “unhealthy” than brown rice), soak the rice first and make sure it’s fully cooked.

5. Check Consumer Reports - if there’s something you eat on a regular basis (packaged foods, spices, dark chocolate) find out the brands with the best heavy metal report. 

• Cinnamon - go with Whole Foods 365

• Dark Chocolate - go with Ghirardelli

• Lunchables - just don’t

If you think you’ve been exposed to a ton of metals - there are a few ways to naturally detox:

Sweat - exercise is always the best medicine. Get out for a hard cardio workout to sweat it out. A sauna might also be a good choice.

Supplements - activated charcoal is a pretty safe binding agent to get these metals out of your body faster, as is the tablet form of the plant chlorella. You can also check out a supplement of the master antioxidant glutathione.

Try

Feeling Heavy?

Make sure your doctor includes a heavy metal panel in your annual lab test.

The test will typically include all the metals we talked about here - arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury. This is something you should be aware of even if you’re not experiencing any extreme symptoms. Just tell your doctor you can’t stop eating spicy tuna rolls.

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Laugh

Originality

Thought the same about Vanilla Ice until my world crumbled in front of me…

garthbeauregard

View more on Instagram

Cook

Grilled Veggie Salad

Indulge in this Grilled Veggie Salad - a summer delight packed with flavor and nutrition! Featuring charred bell peppers (loaded with more vitamin C than oranges!), zucchini, juicy cherry tomatoes, nutty hazelnuts, and aromatic thyme, all tossed with tender wheat and creamy burrata. Drizzled with heart-healthy olive oil, this dish is as delicious as it is nourishing. Join us at the table for a fresh, vibrant meal! 🌞🥗

H&L in the News

Safe Shampoos: Crazy - but most of what we put on our body is bad for our health. Here’s some clean options for the best shampoos under $20 that are free from harmful ingredients. These Skin Deep® green-rated picks are easy to find - sold at Walmart, CVS, Target, and Amazon. (EWG)

The Healthiest Veggie: No one food is best - but the CDC just called out watercress as the healthiest vegetable, scoring a perfect 100 for nutrient density. Maybe it’s worth a try - check out some easy ways to add it to your meal. ☝️ When it comes to veggies - variety is best. (Yahoo!)

A New Hope: Researchers have identified a brain pathway that, when slowed, reverses anxiety in mice. This breakthrough could lead to a new class of anti-anxiety medications for humans, offering targeted treatment with fewer side effects. (Big Think)

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We’re 40-something dads that felt our bodies and minds start to slow down and we’re not ready for that. We found too much information on every subject. So we started Thrive25 to transform what we’ve learned into something useful for the rest of us to spend just 5 min a day to optimize our health & longevity.

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To health!