⭑ Your brain needs not just enough sleep but better sleep to recover ✔ Research
⭑ Creatine found to improve brain energy ✔ A safe well-researched supplement
⭑ Duke Uni found brain aging spotted early can be reversed ✔ Lifestyle factors
⭑ Decrease your mortality risk with this really simple standing exercise ✔

All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

Hello,

I trust you are well and active.

Today's newsletter has a "brain" focus, mainly because as I dug deeper into my initial topic it led to the others. All highly relevant to seeking a longer healthspan. Enjoy.

Item #1: Brain health is improved by deep sleep but deep sleep alone is not enough.

Creatine is one of the most studied supplements for sports, and safest. Now it’s found to improve brain energy - see item #2.

Sophisticated new patterns of MRI scanning found that key indicators of brain aging are things that we can prevent or minimise. I explain how in item #3.

Then, in item #4, doing this simple innocuous standing exercise everyday is linked to lower mortality risk.
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01 Sleep Duration and Efficiency: Giving Your Brain Enough Time to Scrub

I've written recently about how deep sleep clears our brain of metabolic waste and toxins which in turn results in a lower risk of cerebral deterioration e.g dementia.

Time asleep matters and previously I targeted clocking 7-9 hours a night.

This isn't arbitrary—longer duration provides the window for the glymphatic (waste cleaning) cycles, with studies showing short sleep (< 6 hours) halves waste clearance efficiency thus accelerating brain aging.

⇒ However time asleep is not the whole story.

Efficiency (time asleep vs. in bed) ties into the equation of how well our brain cleans out the toxins.

Studies show that high efficiency scores mean uninterrupted rest, enhancing fluid flow; low ones mean fragmented deep sleep cycles - reducing toxin removal by 20-30% according to a 2024 report.

What this means for you: The goal is to improve your deep duration and your sleep efficiency i.e. fewer interruptions, less light, no heavy meals close to bedtime etc. In short, sleep duration sets the stage but efficiency ensures the quality of your nightly "brain renovation".

Myth busted: "Catching up on weekends" doesn't fully reverse weekday shortfalls because the weekday shortfalls allow "brain plaque" to build up and this is not easily flushed away with one or two nights of long efficiency sleep. Think of how the plaque builds up on our teeth and is not easily brushed away.

⇒ Target 7.5-9 hours of sleep a night. Dim the lights around 9 to 10 pm and rise at the same time daily. As you sleep gets better your brain will clean itself better.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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02 Creatine Boosts Brain Energy (Not Just Muscles)

May 2025 marked the first time researchers showed that oral creatine supplementation can actually raise brain creatine levels in people with Alzheimer’s disease, which is huge because brain energy deficits are a key player in cognitive decline for folks over 50.

In this small but rigorous setup with Alzheimer’s patients, they took 20g of creatine monohydrate daily (split into 4 doses) for 8 weeks, leading to an 11% bump in brain creatine and about a 5% overall improvement in cognitive scores, with noticeable gains in working memory (like holding info short-term), attention, and inhibitory control (resisting distractions).

The study was reliable - no one dropped out - and side effects were minimal.

What this means for you: If this sparks interest, discuss with your doctor about a short trial of creatine (micronized form for better absorption), starting low at 3-5g/day with meals.

On the other hand, creatine is widely used and backed by decades of research for muscle health, but ask you doc if you have kidney disease or a history of renal issues, as it could add strain.

⇒ I take 5g a day, and have been doing so for more than a decade.​​​​

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03 New Scan Spots Brain Aging Before Symptoms

Ever wonder if your brain’s aging faster than your body? I probably don’t wonder about this exactly but I do occasionally wonder about the relative aging of my brain and body

A July 2025 research report from Duke University reveals that single MRI scan can gauge our "pace of aging" and flag dementia risks years early.

The researchers analysed over 50,000 scans for hidden patterns in brain structure like cortical thickness, surface area, and white matter spots - things associated with poor blood flow or inflammation, which accelerate brain shrinkage.

⇒ This debunks the idea that cognitive decline is just "normal aging".

Why? Because things such as blood flow rate and inflammation are "modifiable factors", meaning, that we can take action to change them. For example, moderate long aerobic exercise increases brain blood flow, as does strength training, and better diet and exercise and sleep reduces

What this means for you: Ask your doc about an MRI if you have family history risks. In the meantime, boost cerebral health with 20 minutes of daily brisk walking to enhance blood flow or strength training 3 times a week, or better, both.

⇒ Research shows faster-aging brains correlate with higher disability odds, but early detection lets you intervene.​​​​​​​​​​​​

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04 One-Leg Balance Drills to Outsmart Mortality Risks

Our exercise of the week is ... standing on one leg.

A buddy of mine at the coffee shop each morning mentioned that he stands on one leg when he is brushing his teeth - alternating legs.

This is a really neat way of improving your balance and super practical - because it is relatively easy to make it a truly consistent practice. These little things add up.

But does it matter?

⇒ It sure does, because our balance is a longevity predictor.

A study of over 1,700 adults aged 51-75 found those unable to stand on one leg for 10 seconds faced an 84% higher death risk over 7 years, linking poor balance to falls, frailty, and overall decline.

You might well ask if this simple action can actually make a root cause difference - and that's a good question.

It turns out that it does, very much so. One-leg standing engages our entire postural system - core, legs, ankles, and brain circuits for proprioception (our sense of body position).

In fact studies show that just 8 to 12 weeks of regularly standing on one leg improves neuromuscular coordination, quicken our reflexes, and enhance our walking stability. Amazing.

What this means for you: Build standing on one leg into your daily habits. Aim for 30 seconds on each leg.

If you want to measure your progress stand on each foot for 10-30 seconds near a wall for support, building to 3 sets. Progress to eyes closed for a challenge.

⇒ Do it barefoot to engage foot muscles to feel steadier in weeks.​
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Thanks for reading!

>> My Latest Blog Post: Energise Your Golden Years: Boosting Your Desire to Exercise with Gut-Healthy Foods​

About the newsletter: Do you think it can be improved? Have a story idea? Want to share about the time you met Chris Hemsworth, or your questions about how to live longer better? Send those thoughts and more to me at walter@walteradamson.com

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