Do hot baths improve endurance? Will creatine bolster your brain power? Does pickle juice prevent cramp? Here’s what we learned about living well this year
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he best advice for living a healthy, well-adjusted life – eat your vegetables, get a good night’s sleep, politely decline when the Jägerbombs appear – never really changes. Other nuggets, such as how much protein you should be eating or how to maximise workouts, seem to change every year. But as we wonder whether we should really give sauerkraut another go, science marches on, making tiny strides towards improving our understanding of what’s helpful. Here’s what you might have missed in the research this year, from the best reason to eat beetroot, to how to ruin your five-a-side performance before the game even starts. There’s still time to break out the pickle juice shots before 2026 …
Collagen’s effects on your skin might be slightly overstated – a 2023 review of more than two dozen trials concluded that supplementation has benefits for hydration and elasticity, but the effects aren’t huge. However, there’s another reason to take it: a 16-week trial on healthy young men, the results of which were published in July, found it can enhance muscle-tendon stiffness, which appears to improve explosive strength. Start with 10g a day: you might not look any younger on the pickleball court, but there’s a chance you’ll improve your Erne shot.
