Try This: 3 Shares For Your Week

I’ve got three big shares for this week! 

Today, high level: 

1. A nightly habit that could be driving cardiovascular disease. 

2. The vitamin (many are deficient in) that might help you live longer!  

3. How’s your grip strength? You should work on it. Here’s why.
   
   
   

Number 1: Long-Term Bright Light at Night Damages the Heart

In a major study of nearly 89,000 adults over 9.5 years, researchers found that brighter nighttime light exposure (tracked via wrist sensors) was associated with higher risks of coronary artery disease, heart attack, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and stroke, even after accounting for lifestyle, sleep, genetic risk, and more.

People in the top 10 percent of nighttime light exposure had between ~1.3x and 1.6x the risk of these cardiovascular outcomes compared with those in the lower half. The link held regardless of sleep duration or efficiency, suggesting it’s not just staying up late; it’s the light itself disrupting our circadian rhythms, which in turn impacts our blood pressure, inflammation, heart rate, and vascular health.

This is wild!!

Try This community, you know I’ve been a huge advocate of making your sleep space as dark as possible and wearing blue-light blockers. Heck, I even use tape or random objects to cover up small light sources when traveling. And it’s not for no reason! This bright-light exposure, over the long term, can have a huge impact on your health. 

If you’re a shift worker and light at night is just a fact of life, don’t panic. There are other things you can do to protect your health. For example, try to keep your eating window to daylight hours as much as possible—a.k.a., eat the bulk of calories when the sun is out. Additionally, take other heart-healthy habits seriously, like eating a diet low in ultra-processed foods and getting daily movement and exercise.

For anyone who can control nighttime light, here are some tips: 

• Use blackout curtains or a sleep mask to reduce ambient light in your bedroom at night.

• Avoid high‑luminosity screens or bright overhead lighting in the 2–3 hours before bed; stick to dim, warm light. (At my house, we like to use red light.)

• If you need to be on your laptop or phone, or if you’re watching TV, consider blue-light-blocking glasses.

• Instead of falling asleep with the TV on, read a book, journal, connect with your partner, or listen to an audiobook or podcast.

• Get rid of small, insidious sources of light: turn clocks away from your body, cover up any power outlets, etc.

Be serious about your light exposure and your circadian rhythms. These simple changes can make a big difference. 

Number 2: The Vitamin that Protects Telomeres

Okay, here’s a quick background on telomeres. These are the “caps” at the end of your chromosomes, and they get shorter as your cells divide. Shorter telomeres are tied to rapid aging, brain decline, and increased risk of developing chronic disease. 

So, we want to keep your telomeres from shortening quickly! Well, here’s one way to support them.

New research summarized in this awesome Substack post by Dr. Brandon Luu shows that taking 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 per day significantly slowed telomere shortening over four years compared to a placebo.

In other words, supplementing vitamin D doesn’t just help bone health or immunity; it may actually help keep your cells younger. The study reported a telomere‑shortening gap equivalent to several years of cellular aging.

And this wasn’t just a small observational trial. It’s a randomized, controlled setup, which makes the findings more solid. The proposed mechanism? Vitamin D likely dampens inflammation and oxidative stress, two major drivers of telomere attrition.

Know your numbers. Get tested and supplement. Most experts recommend 2,000–3,000 IU daily, but sometimes you might need more to support a deficiency. I had to take 5,000 IU a day to get to my target number, and now I take about 4,000 IU daily. 

Number 3: How’s Your Grip Strength?

Some researchers are advocating for a new vital sign: hand grip strength!

This narrative review pulls together decades of research showing that weaker hand grip strength (HGS) isn’t just a measure of hand weakness; it’s tied to higher risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic kidney and liver disease, certain cancers, and even higher mortality and hospitalization rates.

Researchers found that HGS can be easily measured with a simple handheld dynamometer, it’s reliable across populations (though the “normal” cut‑offs differ by age, sex, ethnicity, and occupation), and it gives a snapshot of overall muscle health, functional resilience, and long‑term wellness.

What’s compelling is how many systemic diseases show up when grip is weak. The authors argue there’s enough evidence to treat HGS as a biomarker and potentially a new vital sign for lifelong health monitoring. 

While some experts feel that grip strength is just an overall sign of muscle strength, others argue that grip strength alone is an independent predictor and should be prioritized as well.

Bottom line: I don’t think it hurts to work on grip strength! Grab a hand dynamometer (or ask your clinician for a grip test). If your grip strength is lower than expected (especially compared to age/sex norms), simply view it as a red flag, not just for your hands, but for your whole‑body resilience. 

Here are some exercises you can focus on to improve grip strength. Some individuals may require assistance, so always use discretion before performing.

Barbell lifting: Work with a trainer to determine your weight capacity and reps.

Farmer’s holds: Carry a dumbbell or kettlebells in each hand and walk around for 30–60 seconds at a time. Try this for 3–4 reps. 

Dead hang: This is a good way to test grip strength. Try to hang from a bar and see how long you can hold on. If you can’t hold on for 20 seconds, you might need to work on grip strength. Try to increase the amount you can hang (safely) over time. 

Stress ball: Squeeze a stress ball a couple of times a day for 10 minutes. 

That’s it for this week’s practical tips to support your life span and healthspan at any age.

See you next week for more shares,
Dhru Purohit