One short email. Five things worth knowing, taking, and doing to be your best, built for real life in Asia.
This week: a focus supplement that isn’t smoke and mirrors, the single best predictor of how long you’ll live, and a breathing trick from a Stanford lab. We test everything. No sponsors.
1 · THE PICK
Mind Lab Pro
Most “focus” or “brain” supplements are caffeine and a clever label. This one is the rare exception with real human trials behind it. Mind Lab Pro stacks 11 researched nootropics, with no proprietary blend hiding the doses. The lead ingredient, Cognizin Citicoline, feeds the brain chemical you use for memory and attention. In a placebo-controlled trial published in 2023, people taking this exact formula scored better on memory and recall than those on placebo. No caffeine, no jitters, no crash.
About US$69 a bottle (a one-month supply). Buy four, get one free, which brings it under US$52 a bottle. Free worldwide shipping over US$100, and it lands in most of Asia in about a week. Shop Mind Lab Pro →
2 · WORTH KNOWING
Being unfit is as deadly as smoking
That is not a figure of speech. A study of 122,007 adults (JAMA Network Open, 2018) found the least-fit people had roughly five times the risk of dying over the follow-up compared with the fittest. Low fitness carried a mortality risk on par with smoking, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Here is the part nobody says out loud: fitness is the one item on that list you can move in a few months. You don’t need to be an athlete. You just need to stop being unfit.
3 · TRY THIS TONIGHT
The breath that beats meditation
A 2023 Stanford study found that five minutes of one simple breathing pattern lowered stress and lifted mood more than meditation did. It’s called cyclic sighing.
- Breathe in slowly through your nose.
- When your lungs feel full, sip in one more short breath on top.
- Let it all out slowly through your mouth, longer than the inhale.
- Repeat for five minutes.
The double inhale is the whole trick. A single round already slows your heart rate. Do it before bed or after a hard day.
4 · READ THIS
Most fish oil is already going off
A lot of the omega-3 on the shelf has started to oxidise before you even swallow it, which makes it close to useless. We wrote up how to spot the rancid stuff and which kind is actually worth buying in Asia. Omega-3 in Asia: The Kind Worth Buying →
5 · THE LINE
You don’t need more discipline. You need fewer wrong turns. That’s the whole job of this email.
Forward this to someone who’s tired of guessing.