Try This – 3 Shares For Your Week

Try This community, today I have 3 shares for you! 

1. Does supplementing with calcium and vitamin D make you less frail? 

2. The right amount of exercise to protect your heart!

3. A fascinating habit of kids in China that improves mental focus. 

Let’s get into it. 

Number 1: Should you take calcium supplements to protect your bones?

A brand new systematic review pulled together 69 randomized trials involving over 150,000 participants to answer one question: do calcium, vitamin D, or combined supplementation actually prevent fractures and falls as we age?

The answer? In isolation, they probably don't help with frailty.

And here's where it gets even more interesting. Supplemental calcium (the synthetic kind, not from whole-food sources) has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease. One earlier BMJ analysis of 24,000 adults found a 139% greater risk of heart attack in those who reported taking calcium supplements. Dietary calcium showed no such risk.

*Note: This study did have some limitations. It was self-reported data, and we don’t know if those who reported taking supplemental calcium had other risk factors. 

So what actually works?

For bones, get your calcium from bioavailable sources: high-quality dairy if you tolerate it, sardines with the bones in, or even an eggshell calcium supplement (this is my personal go-to since dairy doesn't work for me).

For vitamin D, supplementation can still be beneficial for a lot of different aspects of our health, but it doesn’t seem to move the needle when it comes to frailty, especially in isolation.

Regarding frailty, the strongest data is on movement, resistance training, and eating enough protein to protect lean muscle mass, especially as we age.

In fact, a 2024 JAMA systematic review of 83 randomized trials and nearly 49,000 older adults found that exercise was the single most consistent intervention for preventing falls, reducing fall rates by 15% and injurious falls by 16%.

Move it or lose it.

Number 2: The Hard Truth About How Much Exercise Your Heart Actually Needs

A brand new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine is going to be uncomfortable for a lot of us. But it's the kind of truth I want to know.

Researchers tracked 17,088 adults using wrist-worn accelerometers and followed them for nearly 8 years to answer one question: how much exercise actually moves the needle on cardiovascular disease risk?

Hitting the standard recommendation of 150 minutes per week was linked to only an 8% to 9% reduction in cardiovascular disease risk.

To get a 30% or greater reduction, participants needed 560 to 610 minutes per week.

That works out to 80 to 90 minutes a day.

Before you feel discouraged, let's first talk about what actually counts as moderate-to-vigorous activity.

Participants in the study wore wrist accelerometers in their everyday lives, not just during structured workouts. The device was capturing any activity that elevated their heart rate to a moderate-to-vigorous level. That includes things like:

• A brisk walk to a coffee shop and back

• A round of pickleball

• A weekend hike with the family

• Cycling to do errands

• Carrying groceries up the stairs

• Yard work or gardening at a real pace

• A dance class

You don't need 90 minutes of heavy weight training every day. The 80 to 90 minutes is your cumulative daily dose, however you choose to stack it.

Now, let me be honest with you. As someone with one APOE4 gene copy and a real focus on heart health, I work hard to prioritize movement. And there are still plenty of days, especially as a new dad, where I struggle to get my activity in.

So why share this if it might feel discouraging?

Because I'd rather know the truth than keep telling myself I'm doing enough when the data says otherwise. Especially as I continue to age, I want to make decisions based on what's real, not what's convenient.

So yes, any level of activity is great and always helpful for our health. And based on this study, if you're serious about protecting your heart as you age, shoot for 80 to 90 minutes a day through a mix of different activities.

Number 3: Can Cardio In The Morning Make You Smarter?

Speaking of cardio, I thought this was a really fun share and something that you and your family might want to implement. 

On Dan Go’s (@CoachDanGo) recent trip to China, he noticed that every morning before school, kids start the day with a run, pushing their heart rates to 80% of their max before heading to class. 

He notes that similar practices have been adapted in places like Naperville, Illinois, where kids spend an hour in the gym every morning. This significantly improved their math and reading scores!

Honestly, I love this idea for kids and adults, too. Start the day with heart-thumping cardio (as long as you can do so safely), and not only do you feel endorphins, but you get your brain going too. I bet tasks feel WAY easier after doing this. 

Who’s going to try it out? 

See you next week for more shares. 

Much love,
Dhru Purohit 

The information in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice; please consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any health-related decisions.