The FatLete Journal: Week 3
The One Who Endures
1. 6 Key Tools to Improve Your Gut Microbiome Health
By: Huberman Lab - Improve Your Gut Microbiome Health
Huberman Lab dives into topics from podcast Episodes 62 and 63, focusing on gut microbiome health and its link to brain, immune, and hormone function.
Microbiota live throughout the body, and their diversity is essential for maintaining overall health via chemical signaling (e.g., serotonin production).
Eat fermented foods to increases gut microbiota diversity and reduces inflammation (sauerkraut, yogurt, kimchi, kefir, kombucha).
Taking pre and pro-biotics will feed beneficial microbes and introduce live microbes.
Prioritize quality sleep will effect stress levels and immunity, which are directly correlated to gut health.
Limiting processed foods and artificial sweeteners as they damage gut lining and reduce microbial diversity. A whole-food, high-fiber, plant-based diet supports microbiota and reduces inflammation.
A key to gut health I found pretty cool was avoiding over-sanitizing. Environmental microbes help “educate” the immune system and populate the gut. Social interactions, pets, and nature exposure are beneficial. Balance cleanliness with healthy microbial exposure; avoid excessive antibiotic use.
2. Berry Consumption and Sleep in the Adult US General Population
By: National Library of Medicine
*This study used 14 years of NHANES data (2005–2018) and included 29,217 U.S. adults to examine associations between berry intake and sleep duration/difficulty.
Berry consumers had lower odds of reporting short sleep. Strongest associations were with blueberries and strawberries.
Berry consumers had reduced odds of sleep difficulty. After full adjustment, only blackberry intake remained significantly associated (37% lower odds).
You may ask “why study berries and sleep”: Berries contain melatonin, polyphenols, and sleep-related nutrients (vitamin C, magnesium, iron), all of which can contribute to improved sleep quality and regulation through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cardiovascular pathways
Side facts: 1 in 3 U.S. adults gets less than the recommended 7–9 hours of sleep. 35–50% of adults experience chronic or occasional insomnia. Both short (<7h) and long (≥9h) sleep durations, as well as insomnia, are linked to chronic conditions: heart disease, obesity, diabetes, inflammation, mental illness, and early death.
3. Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being
By: Oxford Academic
Despite their utility (mobile phones), concerns have grown over their potential negative effects on subjective well-being (SWB), mental health, and attention. Prior correlational and short-term experimental studies hinted at harms, but lacked rigorous, long-term experimental evidence.
Study design: Preregistered randomized controlled trial of 467 adults. An app was installed to block all mobile internet (Wi-Fi, data) on phones for 2 weeks (calls and texts were still allowed).
Blocking mobile internet for 2 weeks significantly improved: SWB (dz ≈ 0.45), Mental health (dz ≈ 0.56), Sustained attention (dz ≈ 0.23). About 91% of participants improved in at least one domain.
Mediating factors that improved during the intervention and helped explain outcomes: More time in the “offline world” (e.g., hobbies, socializing, exercise), Less media consumption, Greater social connectedness, Improved self-control, Increased sleep duration. These findings support the growing belief that constant connectivity may hinder psychological functioning, and that tech moderation strategies could yield real mental and cognitive benefits.
4. Suffering Proves We Are Real
By: Marshall Segal - Desiringgod.org
This article is what some people would call unorthodox in terms of health and wellness news. I am not some people. Everyone suffers in their life, trials that are great and small but still face us all alike. This article is a reminder, in order to live (not just be alive) we must endure, overcome, and be better off from our suffering.
When we pray for the strength to endure our suffering, sometimes the suffering itself becomes God’s answer. Suffering prepares us for future trials, and you know more trials will come. But it is important that we don’t just crawl through it, we must face it head on as if it is a battle (because it is). It is written, “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” (Romans 5:3–4)
I hope this helps. I truly feel this is an article of health and wellness, knowing we are not alone in times of trial, and that these trials are tests of our mental strength and most importantly faith. And faith, God, is the foundation of all health.
Give this article a thorough read. The verses that this article quotes from the bible are the answers. Read them a few times over, go to the chapters they are from in The Book, your questions will be answered. To understand the reason for our sufferings, and use them as tools for growth, in body and spirit. This is the medicine we lack and vitally need.
Closing note: As we reflect on the deeper dimensions of health and wellness, we’re reminded that true well-being goes beyond physical strength—it includes the courage to endure, the grace to grow through pain, and the hope that suffering can refine us, not ruin us.
Take heart. The hard days shape us into who we must become.
P.S. (if you have topics, questions, or thoughts you would like learn about let me know in the comments)
- The FatLete Journal