Ben Greenfield’s Weekly Roundup: October 16

Welcome to Ben Greenfield’s Weekly Roundup!

On this weekly put up, I share with you my most fascinating discoveries of the week, together with the most recent information on the fronts of health, diet, well being, wellness, biohacking, and anti-aging analysis. I additionally recap my upcoming occasions and particular bulletins so you’ll be able to sustain with alternatives to study, giveaways, reductions, and extra!

New Discoveries

Research Reveals Creatine Could Assist You Achieve Lean Mass With out Working Out, Plus a Nearer Take a look at the Most cancers Query 💪🧬

You in all probability already know creatine is likely one of the most studied dietary supplements for muscle, energy, and efficiency. However two current research caught my eye.

The primary suggests creatine can enhance your physique composition even in case you’re not figuring out. The second tackles the creatine-cancer scare head-on.

Let’s begin with muscle. In a 2026 randomized managed trial, researchers took 64 adults between 45 and 65 and gave them both 10 grams of creatine a day or a placebo for 12 weeks. Some additionally adopted an train and food plan program. Some didn’t.

The creatine group gained lean mass, energy, and muscular endurance. That held true even for the individuals who skipped the train program solely. The individuals who paired creatine with train and a greater food plan did even higher. They gained lean mass and dropped extra physique fats. The researchers additionally noticed some enhancements in blood sugar, ldl cholesterol, and cognition, however these have been exploratory, so I wouldn’t lean on them too arduous but.

One caveat: not all of that “lean mass” is new muscle. Creatine pulls water into your muscle cells, and that exhibits up on a scan too. However the energy and endurance good points are actual, and in case you’re attempting to remain sturdy and succesful as you become older, that’s what actually counts.

Now, the most cancers query. The concern: creatine would possibly enhance heterocyclic amines (HCAs), compounds that may be carcinogenic.

Researchers examined creatine’s results in people in a managed examine printed in The Journal of Physiology. Neither low nor excessive doses of creatine, taken for a single day or for 30 days, meaningfully raised the HCAs they measured. Weight loss plan mattered much more. That doesn’t show creatine has zero connection to most cancers in each attainable state of affairs. But it surely does knock out one of many foremost arguments for the priority.

You may additionally have seen headlines about creatine fueling tumor progress via platelets. That analysis is price following, however the one particular examine that’s getting consideration concerned transferring platelets into mice that already had most cancers. That’s a great distance from displaying {that a} regular each day scoop causes most cancers in a wholesome individual.

So the place do I land? Creatine retains impressing me: it helps muscle, energy, and doubtless wholesome growing older, even in individuals who don’t train a lot, and the human analysis thus far doesn’t present that it causes most cancers. That’s sufficient for me to maintain taking it, which is why Kion Creatine (get 10-20% off auto-applied at checkout) is a staple in my routine.

If I had an energetic most cancers analysis, although, I’d deal with it otherwise. I’d run creatine and each different complement by my oncology crew as a substitute of assuming that what works for a wholesome individual is routinely proper throughout remedy.

For many wholesome adults, creatine remains to be one of many best-supported dietary supplements you’ll be able to take, particularly in case you pair it with common energy coaching. Need to dig deeper into creatine’s results on muscle progress, mind well being, longevity, and extra? Take a look at a few of my favourite creatine-related articles, podcasts, and assets under:

The E-book I Wrote for My Sons—20 Years of Laborious-won Knowledge, And Now I’m Sharing It With You 📖 

Everybody has knowledge price sharing. The issue is, it often dies with them.

I’ve spent many years amassing classes about productiveness, religion, function, bodily well being, and how one can really stay nicely. Most of it was scattered throughout journals, sticky notes, and the margins of books.

Then I believed: if I by no means got here again, what could be left unsaid?

I wrote Precepts for my twin sons. 100 classes. Ten minutes a day. Designed to ship you focus, function, and motivation in life. 

Every each day lesson contains:

• A brief private essay grounded in actual moments that impressed my writing
• Scripture passages, inspirational quotes, and outdoors citations for deeper reflection
• Closing, probing, weak questions with ample house to journal your personal reply
• QR code for every day that hyperlinks to a companion video reflection from me

You don’t need to repeat the errors others have already made. That’s the entire level.

Whether or not you learn it by yourself, along with your partner, or as a household, Precepts provides you 100 days of brief each day classes, about 10 minutes every, for constructing knowledge and leaving a legacy. Every day pairs a lesson on religion, well being, function, and intentional residing, together with a video reflection from me and house to document your personal insights.

These are the identical classes I wished to depart for my sons, and now I’m excited to share them with you.

Precepts releases in early November. You possibly can pre-order your Kindle copy on Amazon now.

One Coach and a Plan Constructed Round Your Life: Work With a TRIUMPH Coach One-on-One 💪

You possibly can know quite a bit about well being and nonetheless really feel caught. Podcasts, apps, and protocols typically contradict one another, and it will get more durable to remain constant when life will get busy.

TRIUMPH Teaching is constructed on my Boundless technique and delivered by my teaching crew. 

You’re employed with one coach who is aware of you out of your first name via the period of your program, beginning with a concentrate on foundations like sleep, energy, and actual meals, then including smarter instruments as soon as the fundamentals are in place.

Every month, you get two 1:1 video calls along with your coach to overview your progress, work via obstacles, and alter your plan. 

Between calls, you get weekly coaching, diet, and way of life programming, weekday messaging along with your coach, and a quarterly deep well being examine to be sure to’re on observe.

To start out, fill out a brief evaluation (about 10 minutes), then discuss with the coach who would work with you. They’ll inform you truthfully whether or not TRIUMPH is an efficient match.

If you need a coach who is aware of what issues to you and a plan constructed across the life you may have, apply for TRIUMPH Teaching right here.

It’s Official: Boundless Is HERE & Able to Stream 🔥 🎬

After years within the making, Boundless: The Man Who Grew to become Human is formally accessible to stream on Apple TV and Amazon.

For 20 years, I measured practically all the pieces I might about my physique and efficiency. I constructed my life round optimization, longevity, higher biomarkers, and pushing the boundaries of what a human being might do.

And lots of it labored.

However Boundless is about what none of these numbers might measure, and what that relentless pursuit practically value me.

The movie follows my journey from excessive self-optimization and bodily mastery to a a lot deeper reckoning with my household, relationships, religion, function, and what a life well-lived really appears to be like like. 

Shedding my father and practically shedding my household pressured me to confront a query no protocol, wearable, blood check, or biohack might reply: What are you optimizing for within the first place?

So if you understand me for biohacking, health, or longevity, you could be shocked by this movie. It’s finally much less about mastering your physique and extra about all the pieces that mastery can’t attain.

Watch Boundless: The Man Who Grew to become Human now on Apple TV or Amazon.

This Week in Well being & Efficiency: What the Newest Analysis Says

🧠👁️ Might Contact Lenses Deal with Despair as Successfully as Prozac? Scientists have developed experimental contact lenses that ship mild electrical stimulation via the retina to affect mind circuits concerned in temper regulation. In a 2026 examine, mice receiving half-hour of stimulation each day for 3 weeks confirmed enhancements in depression-like behaviors corresponding to these handled with fluoxetine, the energetic ingredient in Prozac. Researchers additionally noticed enhancements in mind connectivity and depression-related biomarkers, though we will’t say but if the consequences would translate to people. (full examine right here).

🌿🧠 Does Lengthy-Time period Hashish Use Truly Decrease IQ? A landmark examine following folks from childhood to age 38 discovered that persistent hashish use was related to declines in reminiscence, processing velocity, and total cognitive operate. Probably the most persistent customers who began throughout adolescence skilled a median IQ decline of roughly eight factors. Even quitting didn’t absolutely reverse the deficits on this group, suggesting hashish would possibly have an effect on how the mind develops. (full examine right here).

🌙❤️ Might a Little Mild in Your Bed room Be Altering Your Coronary heart? Right here’s another excuse to maintain your bed room as darkish as attainable. A significant 2026 examine involving greater than 10,000 adults discovered that nighttime mild publicity was related to measurable adjustments in coronary heart construction and performance. In contrast with individuals who slept in close to darkness, these uncovered to extra mild at evening had thicker coronary heart partitions, bigger left ventricles, and barely weaker coronary heart contractions. And in a bigger group of greater than 73,000 adults, researchers additionally linked nighttime mild publicity to cardiovascular occasions. (learn the analysis right here).

🥩💪 Does Going Vegan Make You Lose Muscle? Not Essentially. In a 12-week randomized trial involving adults aged 65 and older, those that switched to a self-selected vegan food plan misplaced extra muscle mass and had decrease muscle protein synthesis than those that continued consuming an omnivorous food plan. However right here’s the catch: the vegan group additionally ate roughly 20–28 fewer grams of protein per day, making this an unequal protein comparability, and resistance coaching helped cut back muscle loss. The takeaway? A well-planned vegan food plan with resistance coaching might doubtlessly assist muscle well being, however getting sufficient complete protein and important amino acids takes extra planning, and animal proteins usually make that simpler (full examine right here).

Key Takeaway: From experimental contact lenses that affect mood-related mind circuits to the long-term cognitive dangers related to heavy hashish use, mind well being analysis continues to disclose some fascinating connections. In the meantime, conserving your bed room darkish could also be a easy approach to assist cardiovascular well being, and preserving muscle as you age comes right down to satisfactory protein, important amino acids, and resistance coaching, no matter your dietary preferences.

Need to dive deeper? Click on the hyperlinks above to discover the analysis, and click on right here to comply with me on X for all the most recent well being and efficiency information scorching off the press!

Product Of The Week

::: Regulate Your Nervous System, Don’t Simply Masks the Signs of Stress (Save $50 on Harmoniq FLOW) 🧠⚡ :::

“Dysregulation” is likely one of the hottest phrases in wellness proper now. However what does it really imply, and why do you have to care?

It means your nervous system has bother shifting gears, so that you keep revved up while you wish to wind down. Burnout, persistent stress, and poor sleep can go away your nervous system caught in overdrive, which is why you’ll be able to really feel wired and exhausted on the identical time.

You would possibly lean on caffeine to push via your day, then attain for melatonin or one other sleep assist when you’ll be able to’t wind down at evening. These instruments might help within the brief time period, however they don’t essentially tackle what’s taking place beneath.

As an alternative of one other passive tracker, Harmoniq FLOW is an energetic intervention.  This wearable neckband makes use of patented ulRFE frequency expertise to assist nervous system regulation, going past simply monitoring stress to ship stimulation meant that can assist you shift it.

Open the app, select your state (Calm, Focus, Aid, or Sleep), and the machine does the remainder. That offers you a approach to act in your physiology, whether or not you wish to calm down or sharpen your focus.

After all, no wearable replaces high quality sleep, motion, daylight, and different fundamentals, and impartial analysis on FLOW’s particular advantages remains to be restricted. Nonetheless, it’s a stable possibility for supporting leisure, focus, and stress administration with out one other stimulant or complement.

Need to strive it your self? Click on right here to save lots of $50 on Harmoniq FLOW, backed by a 45-day money-back assure.

Podcasts I Recorded This Week:

Ex-CIA Officer: How To Beat A Polygraph, Get better Like A Spy & Learn Anybody, With Andrew Bustamante 

How To Repair Unfastened Pores and skin After GLP-1 Weight Loss, How A lot Protein To Eat In A Calorie Deficit & 8 Bodybuilding Myths, Busted.