A blog to help you optimize your full-body and life performance

“I don’t want to lift weights, it will make me bulk up!” This is a common mindset in women wary of starting a new training routine. Even a quick Google search will reveal that it's an incredibly popular area of interest on bodybuilding blogs and fitness forums. Women enter the gym to improve a healthy inside and outside, and, sometimes, building a bulky exterior doesn’t align with their goals.

The truth is, merely taking the next step in your gym routine won’t automatically result in bigger muscles. And yet, this misconception can unfortunately impede women from entering the weight room. But in fact, the body of research showing resistance training's diverse benefits (particularly in women) continues to grow. So before you shy away from the weight room, here are some science-supported facts about weight lifting for women.

What’s the difference between cabbage and kimchi? Milk and yogurt? Juice and kombucha? Yes, the answer is fermentation. But it really goes so far beyond that. When live microorganisms are introduced to everyday foods, they can drastically alter their nutritional makeup for the better. But not all fermented foods are created equal, and, in fact, some of the foods you think are packed with probiotics might really just be faking it. Here's how to get good-quality microorganisms in the foods you eat.

To the well-intentioned consumer, the seemingly back-and-forth nature of egg recommendations can be frustrating. For years the American Heart Association recommended limiting egg intake due to their high cholesterol content, yet in 2015 the Dietary Guidelines ultimately dropped these restrictions saying eggs are part of a healthy diet. Recently, a study published by the New York Times put eggs back on the naughty list. What gives? We are here to put the science to bed once and for all.

It seems like probiotics are all the rage right now – they're taking over health food stores, social media, and even restaurant menus. But what exactly are probiotics, and what can they do for your health? Here's a round-up of the latest research.

You hear about it, you read about it, you even talk about it, but for some reason you ignore it… it’s the health advice you know you should follow but choose not to. It's easier and, at times, more gratifying to dismiss it, but have you thought of the long-term implications of continuously ignoring it? In honor of National Nutrition Month this March, we’re reigniting the conversation on the health advice you continue to overlook. In this article, we provide you with the research behind the advice and present tips to help you implement it once and for all.

When Joe Rogan speaks, people listen. But when Joe Rogan's guests speak, people sit up and take note. The renowned comedian and MMA commentator is perhaps best known these days for his wildly popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience – which boasts over 4.6 million subscribers and features guests ranging from celeb astrophysicists like Neil deGrasse Tyson to global icons like SpaceX and Tesla founding tycoon Elon Musk. That's why we were thrilled when David Sinclair, PhD, Chairman of the InsideTracker Scientific Advisory Board, appeared as a guest on Rogan's show a few weeks ago to dish on why he tests his blood regularly in an effort to optimize his own healthspan.

In a productivity-centric world, it can be hard to relinquish working hours to fit in time for things we know are good for us – like home-cooking! So hard, in fact, that Americans recently began spending more on restaurant and fast food than on meals they make at home – a first in US history. In other words, we're buying our meals, rather than cooking them, more than ever before. Why does this matter? Well, research shows that restaurant food is higher in unhealthy nutrients like saturated fat and sodium than the meals we cook.¹ Of course, cooking daily can be quite a commitment. So how can we save time and eat health-promoting foods? The answer for many is meal prepping.

While it’s not a new concept, meal prepping (bulk-preparing food in advance) has just recently filtered into mainstream habits – including those of the InsideTracker team. So we've curated some of our favorite meal prep hacks that help us save time and still make enjoyable eats. 

As a consumer in our health-conscious world, you may have come across a current fad: the alkaline diet (which may also be referred to using a combination of the terms acid or ash). Fancy name, but what does it mean?

The alkaline diet holds the assumption that, if we only eat optimal pH foods, the pH level of the fluids in our bodies will optimize in response, thereby protecting our organs and systems from damage and disease and improving our general health.⁴ But how realistic can that be?  Is there evidence that this strategy works, or should we have left the alkaline diet in 2018?

Everyone loves a big news flash, and this one takes the cake! InsideTracker is thrilled to announce that our very first scientific paper has been published in a peer-reviewed journal – and not just any journal, but a prestigious one: Scientific Reports, from the Nature Publishing Group. The paper, titled “Longitudinal analysis of biomarker data from a personalized nutrition platform in healthy subjects”, has been nine years in the making, thanks to contributions from our entire scientific team, staff, and scientific advisory board.

At InsideTracker, we strive to create a truly personalized approach to health and wellness through the use of blood-based biomarker testing. The best thing about blood biomarkers is that they are dynamic. Unlike genetics, blood biomarkers change over time and often can be influenced by specific diet, activity, and lifestyle habits. ^1,2,3 This also means that your blood test offers a snapshot of your current nutrition and exercise needs.