Good morning and TGIF.
Who’s loving this fall weather? Unfortunately, not me. I live in Scottsdale, where “fall” simply means we’ve been downgraded from Dante’s ninth circle of hell to the seventh—the one reserved for tyrants and warmongers. (Guilty!)
Anyway, let’s catch up on some news.
When it comes to making babies, we’ve long understood the importance of sperm count and motility. When those numbers look good—and the female’s fertile—BOOM: forty weeks later, you’ve got yourself a little Buttercup.
And researchers are only now beginning to uncover just how important sperm quality is for conception, but also for the long-term health of a child. We know that better sperm is linked to healthier pregnancies and safer births while poor sperm quality is associated with miscarriages.
Further adding to the sperm factor is a new study published this week in Cell Metabolism. It found that a father’s sperm quality—shaped by his exercise habits—influences his child’s metabolic health and endurance capacity.
Unlike the mother’s influence—where the baby develops within her body, shaped by her nutrition, exercise, hormones, and environment—a father’s influence happens before conception. (So does the mother’s, of course. Just needing to call out the male Buttercups today.)
His contribution—though brief—is no less powerful. So make it count. If you’re hoping to conceive in a year or two or five, start showing up to the gym today.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry just received the “Humanitarians of the Year” award from Project Healthy Mind, a mental health company. I truly cannot think of a more deserving couple. Meghan, in particular, has done wonders for my mental health. I was deep in depression until I saw her making jam and crafting on Netflix. Pulled me right out of it. Thank you, Meghan.
A new study out of Estonia (which, by the way—what is going on over there? Cool place, but undeniably mysterious. Just me?) found that beta blockers, proton pump inhibitors, and antidepressants leave an indelible imprint on the gut microbiome.
Costco’s now selling Ozempic for $499 a month. Dying to know if they’ll have free samples of the jab.
Jennifer Lopez said she ran a 4:49 mile in high school. Allegedly. At first, the track community was skeptical. But the researchers are digging as I write this, and so far they’ve found a solid 800m time from J.Lo when she was in middle school back in 1923.
Bryan Johnson, the tech millionaire who reportedly spends $2 million a year trying to “live forever,” announced he’s not eating meat anymore. Blows my mind that a man with so many resources can believe that meat—cherished by mankind since we left Eden—is problematic. If he really wants a shot at longevity, he’d be running on butter. Then again, I find the man sort of creepy. Not necessarily saddened by his absence here at ROB.
There are few things that bring me as much joy—or teach me as much—as my subscription to The Free Press. They pump out so many banger articles, and this week’s favorite was this profile on Greta Thunberg and Sweden’s lost children:
“Gradually, the younger generations replaced the identity-based religions of the old with the universalist ethos of the new. And the continent then began to see itself as a model for the rest of the world: a borderless Europe, with nothing more to fight over.
On paper, it was the perfect plan.
But then something happened: It met with reality. As part of its rejection of ideology, Europe rejected God. Separation of church and state became the norm; laws rooted in religious morality were liberalized; religious attendance and education collapsed; and public life was secularized. As religion was leached from our lives, humanism and universalism were offered as a trade, creating a vacuum of faith and meaning—and vacuums, as we know, long to be filled.”
Pasta lovers, rejoice! Gwyneth Paltrow is officially back on the carb train after years of eating Paleo religiously. “But again, I think it’s [the Paleo diet] a good template,” she said. “Eating foods that are as whole and fresh as possible.” The Buttercups couldn’t agree more, Gwyneth.
The New York Post got the exclusive on the Taco Bell 50K Race last weekend, and I’m ticked that Running On Butter missed the story. “The Denver-based race, which is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with Taco Bell corporate, invites what one participant calls a ‘special type of idiot’ to run the 31-mile course and eat at nine out of ten Taco Bells along the way.”
In a world full of “idiots” eating Taco Bell running around Denver, be a Gwyneth.
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