You don’t need to eat a big slab of meat every day to meet your protein needs. In fact, loading up on animal-based protein, especially from factory-farmed sources, can do more harm than good.

Studies show that an excessive amount of red meat can lead to increased inflammation, accelerated aging, and increased risk of chronic disease. One major culprit? A sugar molecule called “Neu5Gc,” commonly found in red meat. Your body sees it as a foreign invader, triggering an immune response that can lead to long-term inflammation.

Of course, you should always consult with your doctor before making any drastic changes to your diet. But for many people, plant-based protein can be a powerful alternative that’s packed with benefits like fiber, healthy fats, and anti-inflammatory polyphenols.

Plus, research has continuously shown that non-meat protein sources can be better for your health, longevity, and brain function. Here are six high-protein foods I love and recommend all the time — your body and brain will thank you.

Lentils are my top choice when it comes to legumes. They’re one of the most protein-rich legumes, with fewer calories than most. They’re also higher in resistant starch and prebiotic fiber, which feed your gut microbiome.

Pro tip: Soak or pressure-cook lentils to reduce lectins, which can impact or slow down nutrient absorption. You can add lentils to soups, stews, or homemade veggie burgers.

Hemp seeds are one of the rare plant-based proteins that contain all nine essential amino acids, making them a complete protein.

They’re rich in omega-3s, magnesium, and gut-friendly fiber. Just be sure to choose organic, cold-pressed hemp protein with no added sugars.

Pro tip: Trader Joe’s sells organic hemp protein power, which I like adding to smoothies. You can find hemp hearts at Costco — perfect on salads or roasted vegetables.

Native to Brazil’s Cerrado region, Barù nuts pack more protein per serving than nearly any other nut. They’re also full of antioxidants and fiber, and have a satisfying, earthy crunch.

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Pro tip: You can usually find Barù nuts at grocery stores, but if you don’t, try looking online. I love snacking on a handful daily. They taste like a cross between peanuts and almonds.

This blue-green algae is one of the most protein-dense foods on the planet (by weight, it’s nearly 70% protein). It contains iron, B vitamins, and a powerful antioxidant called phycocyanin that helps support brain and immune function.

Pro tip: Try adding spirulina to your smoothies or juices. You can also substitute it with chlorella, another nutrient-rich algae, in powder or tablet form.

Flaxseeds don’t get enough love, but they’re a fantastic source of plant protein, omega-3s, and lignans, which have hormone-balancing benefits.

When flaxseeds are in their whole form, you cannot digest their beneficial compound, so always choose ground flaxseeds.

Pro tip: I like to keep a bag of organic whole flax in the refrigerator and grind it as needed to ensure freshness (just like you’d only grind coffee beans right before brewing). Add to smoothies, sprinkle on salads, or try my cinnamon flaxseed mug in a muffin recipe for a quick, healthy breakfast.

Sick of quinoa or couscous? Sorghum is a protein-rich ancient grain with a subtly sweet, nutty flavor. One cup has 21 grams of protein (more than twice that of quinoa), and three ounces of sorghum has more iron than a serving of steak!

Even better? It’s a great source of polyphenols and one of the few lectin-free grains.

Pro tip: Use sorghum flour for gluten-free baking, or look for it in pasta form for a high-protein, plant-forward meal.

Dr. Steven Gundry, MD, is a former cardiac surgeon, founder of GundryMD, and author of the bestselling books ”The Gut-Brain Paradox″ and ”The Plant Paradox.” For over two decades, his research has focused on the microbiome’s role in chronic disease and longevity. He received his degrees from Yale University and the Medical College of Georgia, and completed his surgical residency at the University of Michigan. Follow him on Instagram @drstevengundry.

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By some standards, Angela and Brian are fulfilling the American Dream. 

The 52-year-olds were high school sweethearts, have been married for 28 years, raised four children and will soon be empty nesters. They have a net worth of $1.57 million, including nearly $900,000 invested.

But Angela isn’t satisfied with their life. 

“I just worry that life is passing us by, and we can be doing and spending more on life,” she wrote in her application to appear on author and self-made millionaire Ramit Sethi’s “Money for Couples” podcast. The couple joined Sethi for a recent episode, seeking advice to work through differences in their feelings around money. Their last names were not used.

“We never eat out. Vacations are once a year. He always thinks we are poor. I need someone to tell him that we are OK money-wise,” Angela wrote.

Brian disagrees. “I think she feels that we’re at a comfortable place financially right now for our plan going forward,” he said on the podcast. “I don’t see that. I think we just need more. I wish I would’ve started [investing] much earlier.”

Here’s Sethi’s advice for them.

Brian and Angela earn $188,000 a year and have $294,000 in debt between their mortgage and car payments. Their fixed costs account for 72% of their monthly income.

Sethi generally recommends these costs not exceed 50% to 60% of your income, but Angela and Brian have been paying extra on their mortgage, so they have some wiggle room, he said.

However, Brian and Angela’s most frequent financial disagreements revolve around relatively small money decisions, like groceries and dining out. 

Angela does the shopping and financial management, so she has a good idea of what they can afford, the couple told Sethi. But Brian constantly nitpicks her purchases. Angela wants to go out to dinner or drinks more frequently, but Brian almost always says no.

“We’re living too little of a life, is the problem,” Angela said. Sethi agreed, and said the shrinking “didn’t happen all at once. It happened $2 at a time.” That’s the “hidden cost of decades of frugality,” he added.

It’s wise to live within your means, no matter your income. But Brian’s frugality, including his resistance to spend on things that will make his wife happier, seems to come at the expense of their relationship, Sethi said.

“First, you [budget] for a reason. Then, you do it out of habit. And sometimes, you start to believe you don’t deserve anything else,” Sethi said. “It goes beyond saving money on coffee. And sometimes in situations like this, you start to realize how narrow your life has become.”

While Angela would like to retire in the next five years, she fears Brian will feel like he needs to work “till he is 80,” she said.

Sethi walked the couple through retirement projections to show how their investments could change if they decide to put away more each month or retire later. But he warned that the financial logistics won’t matter so much if they can’t get on the same page about how they want to spend their time and money.

“The two of you have so many different options,” Sethi said. “But I don’t think any of it happens if you’re not actually connected, starting right now.”

In addition to showing them that they can afford the date nights and some of the immediate travel Angela would like to do, Sethi encouraged Brian to initiate planning nights out so he can get as excited about a date as Angela. And when Angela asks him to try a new restaurant or activity, “sometimes we just have to say yes and our feelings change later,” Sethi said.

Brian agreed he needs to “not give in, but compromise,” he said. “I think I need to be a better husband and compromise and rebuild the foundation of this relationship.”

Even if it’s small things like going out for coffee, planned activities together will help the couple start “getting those adventurous feelings back,” Sethi said.

They’re currently on track to have nearly $1.5 million in investments if they retire in five years and could see that value surpass $2 million if they wait 10 years. But either way, they are able to afford reasonable outings and activities, he told them.

“Whether it’s joining a group together or trying some new stuff, that brings you way closer,” Sethi said.

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If you ask Donna Morris, there’s one behavior that’s the ultimate red flag an employee won’t get far in the workplace: when someone is a “Debbie Downer.”

Morris, 57, has been executive vice president and chief people officer at Walmart since 2020, helping shape the employee experience of 2.1 million workers since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to her current role, she spent 17 years at Adobe in a variety of leadership positions — and throughout her career, she’s learned a thing or two about red flags in the office.

“Nobody wants [to hire] a Debbie Downer,” Morris tells CNBC Make It, adding that this kind of person is “constantly negative. You know they’re going to show up [and] they’re going to bring the problem, never the solution. I like people who bring the problem and a suggestion for how they might resolve [it.]”

A “Debbie Downer” can also be someone who’s a naysayer, sharing negative opinions about others’ ideas and goals, or regularly being a hindrance to new projects and perspectives. This could make it difficult for them to make the connections needed to climb the corporate ladder, or for their bosses and managers to trust them with new projects.

If your co-worker has this character trait, they’re “only going to support you to a restricted limit,” Juliette Han, a Harvard-trained neuroscientist, told CNBC Make It in June 2023. “They need you to stay within a short leash, and might discourage you from meeting new people in the company or going after new projects if it doesn’t benefit them directly.”

That doesn’t mean you should practice toxic optimism, pretending everything is fine when your team is facing difficult circumstances, for example. It’s unnatural and unrealistic for someone to be happy all the time, Morris says. Similarly, a continuous negative spiral could be a signal that you’re in the wrong job or company, she adds. 

There are a couple attributes that separate the most highly successful employees to those who fall short, says Morris.

She thinks highly of workers who “deliver what you are expecting at the time that you’re expecting,” she says. “You’re better to deliver early than to deliver late, and you’re better to deliver more than less.”

“Another green flag is they’re open to opportunities, and they put their hand up to take on more,” she adds. “Or they bring a problem with the remedy or request help in a timely manner, as opposed to the house is on fire.”

You can show you have this kind of team player, self-starter attitude by offering help even when you’re not asked for it, like volunteering to mentor the new intern or pitching an idea that solves a problem your boss has been dealing with.

Demonstrating radical intellectual curiosity, like researching a new AI tool or a new software your competitors are using, then sharing your findings with your boss or manager, also goes a long way, according to Michael Ramlett, CEO of global data intelligence firm Morning Consult. 

And if you’re willing to help your colleagues along the way, acting as a mentor and sharing the things you’ve learned, that’s the icing on the cake, Morris says.

“People who you see are actually helping others [are a] total green flag.”

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday allowing alternative assets such as private equity, cryptocurrencies and real estate into workplace retirement plans.

The entrance of private equity investments — funds that invest in non-publicly traded businesses — into workplace plans is a big win for the world’s largest money managers, who stand to profit from expansion of access to an asset class that has historically been available only to wealthy investors.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink in particular has been an advocate for opening the doors to private equity, arguing in his most recent annual shareholder letter that “democratizing” private markets could provide market-beating long-term returns for American workers.

But while these new investments can offer tantalizing profits, they also pose a major risk for long-term retirement savers, some investor advocates say.

“The objective for the average person is to have a safe, secure retirement plan,” says Jerry Schlichter, founding partner of Schlichter Bogard, a firm known for lawsuits on behalf of employees over excessive fees in 401(k) plans. “When you talk about new areas like cryptocurrency or private equity, these are fraught with danger for investors for a variety of reasons.”

To be clear, Schlichter and other financial pros don’t deny these assets’ potential to make investors money. They just may not be appropriate for everyday investors’ retirement accounts, they say.

“It’s a square peg in a round hole,” Schlichter says.

Investing experts generally advise parking your core, long-term portfolio in a diversified mix of assets that have delivered proven, consistent returns over the long-term — decades, at least. Given the stock market’s historical upward trajectory, a broad stock market index mutual fund would fit the bill of an appropriate 401(k) investment option, Schlichter says.

Under this framework, the argument against crypto’s inclusion in workplace plans is clear. Although certain cryptocurrencies have delivered impressive returns, the asset class hasn’t been around long enough to have proven itself as a safe option for investors.

“There’s no long-term performance history for cryptocurrency, and the short- to intermediate-term has been all over the place,” says Schlichter. “This is not the kind of investment that people want and deserve when they need to have something that’s protected for their years in retirement.”

The case against private equity is a little more complicated. As the name implies, private equity funds invest in a manner similar to mutual funds, but instead of holding shares in publicly-traded companies, they hold stakes in firms that aren’t yet on the market.

It’s not hard to imagine how investors in such funds can earn impressive returns. Just think how well you could have done if you owned a piece of Tesla or Nvidia before the firms went public.

For now, investment in such funds is typically reserved for accredited investors — generally those with annual incomes above $200,000 or a net worth north of $1 million.

The argument from Fink and others is that opening 401(k) plans to these investments would allow everyday investors to get in on the same return potential that the only the wealthy currently enjoy. Fink says in his letter that pension funds, many of which invest in private equity, tend to outperform 401(k)s, but experts debate whether private funds actually outperform market indexes on a long-term basis.

“There’s nothing wrong with [nontraditional 401(k) investments], but you have to know what you own,” says Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “What is it that you’re buying? What are your expectations for this investment? And if it goes through a slump, what are you going to do then?”

For regular investors, who may not be familiar with how private equity works, there are a few key pitfalls to consider before buying.

They’re expensive

An investment’s fees eat into the returns you earn from it. And while private equity advocates argue that their returns are worth it, these funds have a very high hurdle to clear. Under one popular model, a private equity fund may charge a 2% annual fee, plus 20% of the fund’s profits over a certain threshold.

Compare that with an index fund, which mirrors the return of the market while charging fractions of a percent in fees. “They’re almost free these days,” says Schlichter.

They’re illiquid

Say you want to pull money out of your 401(k) plan. If you own a stock or bond fund, that’s generally an easy ask. Stocks or bonds that you ostensibly own are sold and you get your cash.

That’s not so easy with private equity, which often has set holding periods and limits on how much investors can redeem.

“If there’s a desire to pull out of private equity, there isn’t a way to actually sell that company or sell shares — there’s just no market for it,” says Charles Rotblut, vice president of the American Association of Individual Investors.

That could mean that owners of private equity funds in 401(k)s could have trouble selling shares quickly, either to raise cash or to buy another investment. Or, Schlichter posits, such funds could choose to keep some cash on hand for redemptions, instead of investing it, which could dampen returns.

They’re tough to understand

Private equity funds aren’t as heavily regulated as exchange-traded funds and mutual funds and are therefore generally less transparent about their investment strategies.

That may leave everyday investors at sea as they try to understand complex strategies, which may include investing with leverage, trading derivatives or taking highly concentrated positions in private companies.

None of that is to say that, over a period of decades, a particular private equity fund won’t outperform the market. But when it comes to your 401(k), the message is simple, says Schlichter: “If you don’t understand the investment, you shouldn’t depend on it for your retirement assets.”

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An unhappy gut can significantly impact both your mental and emotional health, experts say, affecting your mood and overall well-being.

When your gut is in poor health, you may experience bloating, gas, constipation, abdominal discomfort, mood swings and even acne.

On a recent episode of the 10% Happier podcast, host Dan Harris discussed the connection between gut health and mental health with gastroenterologist and author Dr. Robynne Chutkan.

Harris opened the episode with a brief explanation of the gut-brain axis, which simply put, is a “two-way communication system involving nerves, hormones and immune signals,” he says.

The gut-brain axis links your central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) with your enteric nervous system (the nervous system of the gut). This two-way street allows your brain to influence your gut’s functions—like motility, secretion, and immune responses. In turn, your gut influences your brain’s emotional and cognitive centers.

To kick off their discussion, Chutkan asked Harris to look down at his stomach and consider its position in the body. “It is in the absolute center of your body. It is literally the engine for everything,” she said.

“I would imagine that if your car engine breaks down, even if the brakes are working, or the carburetor is working or something else, you are not going to get very far because your engine is not working. So the gut really fuels the entire body.”

Even if someone eats a healthy, plant-based, and fiber-rich diet — all of which are proven to maintain or improve gut function — if their pH balance is off or the gut lining is damaged, they won’t be able to absorb nutrients properly, Chutkan explained.

“If the gut is not optimized, those nutrients aren’t going to get absorbed and assimilated, and they’re not going to get to the brain and the immune system and all the other parts of the body,” she said.

And that’s why, according to Chutkan, the gut is the No. 1 organ you should focus on: “Everybody in medicine thinks that their field is most important,” she said. “The neurosurgeons think it’s the brain, but it’s the gut.”

The enteric nervous system lives within the gut and is often called the second brain, Chutkan said. The system has more nerve cells than a spinal cord, and it allows the gut and the brain to communicate with one another.

“What are they telling each other?” Chutkan asked.

“The brain is controlling things like gut motility, enzyme secretion and also nutrient absorption that we talked about. And the gut is controlling things like mood and memory. When I say controlling, not completely, but influencing dramatically.”

As far back as the 1800s, when melancholia was the term used for what we now know as depression, people were treating it with diet, she said.

In 1859, physician Wooster Beach, suggested that those suffering from melancholia “peruse interesting books, and converse with cheerful friends; and above all, be located amid pleasant scenery, where he can enjoy a water prospect, a country air, and country diet.”

The bacteria in your gut form what’s called the microbiome, and it’s responsible for making certain chemicals in your body function correctly, according to Kaiser Permanente. Those chemicals include neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin that affect your mood and sleep, as well as postbiotics that can reduce inflammation and lower stress levels.

When your gut is unhealthy and those chemicals are out of whack, you may experience mood swings, sleep disturbances and brain fog.

Even conditions like Parkinson’s diseases, have connections to gut health. “We know that it begins in the gut,” Chutkan said. “There’s a theory called a gut-first theory of Parkinson’s.”

German neuroanatomist, Dr. Heiko Braak noticed abnormal proteins in the brains of people with Parkinson’s. Those same proteins were present in the gut linings of those individuals years before they developed the brain disease. Braak’s evidence is based on autopsies, but certain research has been done in mice to indicate that injecting those same abnormal proteins into the gut of the animals led to later development of Parkinson’s disease.

“I think that’s one of the clearest connections between the gut and the brain,” Chutkan said.

Now that you know how important it is to keep your gut healthy, you may be wondering how to get your own in better shape.

Dr. Christopher Damman, a gastroenterologist at the Digestive Health Center at the University of Washington Medical Center, shared four ways to improve gut health with CNBC Make It in 2022. Here are his suggestions:

• Think about this quote: “Eat food. Mostly plant. Not too much,” from Michael Pollan’s book, ‘In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto’
• Give a Mediterranean diet a try
• Eat whole foods and only use supplements for the nutrients you may be lacking
• Remember the ‘four phonetic F’s’: fiber, phenols, ferments and good fats

“Shift back to a truly healthy diet which has more balance to it,” Damman said. “The balance that we’ve been missing is whole foods and fiber.”

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