5 Steps To Quit Sugar Easily

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Sugar is one of the least healthy things that most people consume, yet because it’s so prevalent, it can also be tricky to avoid at first, and the cravings can also be a challenge. So, how to quit it?

Step by step

Dr. Mike Hansen recommends the following steps:

  • Be aware: a lot of sugar consumption is without realizing it or thinking about it, because of how common it is for there to be added sugar in things we might purchase ready-made, even supposedly healthy things like yogurts, or easy-to-disregard things like condiments.
  • Recognize sugar addiction: a controversial topic, but Dr. Hansen comes down squarely on the side of “yes, it’s an addiction”. He wants us to understand more about the mechanics of how this happens, and what it does to us.
  • Reduce gradually: instead of going “cold turkey”, he recommends we avoid withdrawal symptoms by first cutting back on liquid sugars like sodas, juices, and syrups, before eliminating solid sugar-heavy things like candy, sugar cookies, etc, and finally the more insidious “why did they put sugar in this?” added-sugar products.
  • Find healthy alternatives: simple like-for-like substitutions; whole fruits instead of juices/smoothies, for example. 10almonds tip: stuffing dates with an almond each makes it very much like eating chocolate, experientially!
  • Manage cravings: Dr. Hansen recommends distraction, and focusing on upping other healthy habits such as hydration, exercise, and getting more vegetables.

For more on each of these, enjoy:

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    • Could my glasses be making my eyesight worse?

      10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

      So, you got your eyesight tested and found out you need your first pair of glasses. Or you found out you need a stronger pair than the ones you have. You put them on and everything looks crystal clear. But after a few weeks things look blurrier without them than they did before your eye test. What’s going on?

      Some people start to wear spectacles for the first time and perceive their vision is “bad” when they take their glasses off. They incorrectly interpret this as the glasses making their vision worse. Fear of this might make them less likely to wear their glasses.

      But what they are noticing is how much better the world appears through the glasses. They become less tolerant of a blurry world when they remove them.

      Here are some other things you might notice about eyesight and wearing glasses.

      Lazy eyes?

      Some people sense an increasing reliance on glasses and wonder if their eyes have become “lazy”.

      Our eyes work in much the same way as an auto-focus camera. A flexible lens inside each eye is controlled by muscles that let us focus on objects in the distance (such as a footy scoreboard) by relaxing the muscle to flatten the lens. When the muscle contracts it makes the lens steeper and more powerful to see things that are much closer to us (such as a text message).

      From the age of about 40, the lens in our eye progressively hardens and loses its ability to change shape. Gradually, we lose our capacity to focus on near objects. This is called “presbyopia” and at the moment there are no treatments for this lens hardening.

      Optometrists correct this with prescription glasses that take the load of your natural lens. The lenses allow you to see those up-close images clearly by providing extra refractive power.

      Once we are used to seeing clearly, our tolerance for blurry vision will be lower and we will reach for the glasses to see well again.

      The wrong glasses?

      Wearing old glasses, the wrong prescription (or even someone else’s glasses) won’t allow you to see as well as possible for day-to-day tasks. It could also cause eyestrain and headaches.

      Incorrectly prescribed or dispensed prescription glasses can lead to vision impairment in children as their visual system is still in development.

      But it is more common for kids to develop long-term vision problems as a result of not wearing glasses when they need them.

      By the time children are about 10–12 years of age, wearing incorrect spectacles is less likely to cause their eyes to become lazy or damage vision in the long term, but it is likely to result in blurry or uncomfortable vision during daily wear.

      Registered optometrists in Australia are trained to assess refractive error (whether the eye focuses light into the retina) as well as the different aspects of ocular function (including how the eyes work together, change focus, move around to see objects). All of these help us see clearly and comfortably.

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      Younger children with progressive vision impairments may need more frequent eye tests. Shutterstock

      What about dirty glasses?

      Dirty or scratched glasses can give you the impression your vision is worse than it actually is. Just like a window, the dirtier your glasses are, the more difficult it is to see clearly through them. Cleaning glasses regularly with a microfibre lens cloth will help.

      While dirty glasses are not commonly associated with eye infections, some research suggests dirty glasses can harbour bacteria with the remote but theoretical potential to cause eye infection.

      To ensure best possible vision, people who wear prescription glasses every day should clean their lenses at least every morning and twice a day where required. Cleaning frames with alcohol wipes can reduce bacterial contamination by 96% – but care should be taken as alcohol can damage some frames, depending on what they are made of.

      When should I get my eyes checked?

      Regular eye exams, starting just before school age, are important for ocular health. Most prescriptions for corrective glasses expire within two years and contact lens prescriptions often expire after a year. So you’ll need an eye check for a new pair every year or so.

      Kids with ocular conditions such as progressive myopia (short-sightedness), strabismus (poor eye alignment), or amblyopia (reduced vision in one eye) will need checks at least every year, but likely more often. Likewise, people over 65 or who have known eye conditions, such as glaucoma, will be recommended more frequent checks.

      older woman positioned for eye testing apparatus
      Eye checks can detect broader health issues. Shutterstock

      An online prescription estimator is no substitute for a full eye examination. If you have a valid prescription then you can order glasses online, but you miss out on the ability to check the fit of the frame or to have them adjusted properly. This is particularly important for multifocal lenses where even a millimetre or two of misalignment can cause uncomfortable or blurry vision.

      Conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure, can affect the eyes so regular eye checks can also help flag broader health issues. The vast majority of eye conditions can be treated if caught early, highlighting the importance of regular preventative care.

      James Andrew Armitage, Professor of Optometry and Course Director, Deakin University and Nick Hockley, Lecturer in Optometric Clinical Skills, Director Deakin Collaborative Eye Care Clinic, Deakin University

      This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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    • Buckwheat vs Rye – Which is Healthier?

      10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

      Our Verdict

      When comparing buckwheat to rye, we picked the buckwheat.

      Why?

      Both are good, wholegrain options for most people! On which note, yes, we are comparing whole groats* vs whole grains here, respectively.

      *buckwheat is, you may remember, a flowering plant and not technically a grain or even a grass (and is very unrelated to wheat; it’s as closely related to wheat as a lionfish is to a lion).

      In terms of macros, buckwheat has more protein, while rye has more carbs and fiber, the ratios of which mean that rye has the higher glycemic index. All in all, we’re calling this category a win for buckwheat on the basis of those things, but really, both are fine.

      When it comes to vitamins, buckwheat has more of vitamins B1, B3, B6, B7, B9, K, and choline, while rye has more of vitamins B2, B5, and E. An easy win for buckwheat here.

      In the category of minerals, buckwheat has more copper, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc, while rye has more manganese and selenium. Another clear win for buckwheat.

      Lastly. it’s worth noting that while buckwheat does not contain gluten, rye does. So, if you’re avoiding gluten, buckwheat is the option to choose here for that reason too.

      If you don’t have celiac disease, wheat allergy, gluten intolerance, or something like that, then rye is still very worthwhile; buckwheat may have won on numbers in each category, but rye wasn’t far behind on anything; the margins of difference were quite small today.

      Still, buckwheat is the best all-rounder here!

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    • The Science Of New Year’s Pre-Resolutions

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      The Science Of New Year’s Pre-Resolutions

      There’s a military dictum that “prior preparation and planning prevents piss-poor performance”.

      Would it surprise you to know that soldiers going on the attack are not focused on the goal? Rather, they are focused on the process.

      With drills and mnemonics, everything that can be controlled for in advance is; every action, every reaction, everything that can go wrong, and all the “if x then y” decisions in between pre-battle PREWAR and PAWPERSO and post-battle PACESDO (all mnemonic acronyms; the content is not important here but the principle is).

      In short: take Murphy’s Law into account now, and plan accordingly!

      The same goes for making your plans the winning kind

      If you want your resolutions to work, you may need to make pre-resolutions now, so that you’re properly prepared:

      • Do you want to make an exercise habit? Make sure now that you have the right clothes/shoes/etc, make sure that they fit you correctly, make sure you have enough of them that you can exercise when one set’s in the wash, etc.
        • What grace will you allow yourself if tired, unwell, busy? What’s your back-up plan so that you still do what you can at those times when “what you can” is legitimately a bit less?
        • If it’s an outdoors plan, what’s your plan for when it’s rainy? Snowy? Dangerously hot?
        • What are the parameters for what counts? Make it measurable. How many exercise sessions per week, what duration?
      • Do you want to make a diet habit? Make sure that you have in the healthy foods that you want to eat; know where you can and will get things. We’re often creatures of habit when it comes to shopping, so planning will be critical here!
      • Do you want to cut some food/drink/substance out? Make sure you have a plan to run down or otherwise dispose of your current stock first. And make sure you have alternatives set up, and if it was something you were leaning on as a coping strategy of some kind (e.g. alcohol, cannabis, comfort-eating, etc), make sure you have an alternative coping strategy, too!

      See also: How To Reduce Or Quit Alcohol

      We promised science, so here it comes

      Approach-oriented resolutions work better than avoidance-oriented ones.

      This means: positively-framed resolutions work better than negatively-framed ones.

      On a simple level, this means that, for example, resolving to exercise three times per week is going to work better than resolving to not consume alcohol.

      But what if you really want to quit something? Just frame it positively. There’s a reason that Alcoholics Anonymous (and similar Thing Anonymous groups) measure days sober, not relapses.

      So it’s not “I will not consume alcohol” but “I will get through each day alcohol-free”.

      Semantics? Maybe, but it’s also science:

      A large-scale experiment on New Year’s resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals

      Why January the 1st? It’s a fresh start

      Resolutions started on the 1st of January enjoy a psychological boost of a feeling of a fresh start, a new page, a new chapter.

      Similar benefits can be found from starting on the 1st of a month in general, or on a Monday, or on some date that is auspicious to the person in question (religious fasts tied to calendar dates are a fine example of this).

      Again, this is borne-out by science:

      The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior

      Make it a habit

      Here be science:

      How do people adhere to goals when willpower is low? The profits (and pitfalls) of strong habits

      As for how to do that?

      How To Really Pick Up (And Keep!) Those Habits

      Trim the middle

      No, we’re not talking about your waistline. Rather, what Dr. Ayelet Fischbach refers to as “the middle problem”:

      ❝We’re highly motivated at the beginning. Over time, our motivation declines as we lose steam. To the extent that our goal has a clear end point, our motivation picks up again toward the end.

      Therefore, people are more likely to adhere to their standards at the beginning and end of goal pursuit—and slack in the middle. We demonstrate this pattern of judgment and behavior in adherence to ethical standards (e.g., cheating), religious traditions (e.g., skipping religious rituals), and performance standards (e.g., “cutting corners” on a task).

      We also show that the motivation to adhere to standards by using proper means is independent and follows a different pattern from the motivation to reach the end state of goal pursuit❞

      Read: The end justifies the means, but only in the middle

      How to fix this, then?

      Give yourself consistent, recurring, short-term goals, with frequent review points. That way, it’s never “the middle” for long:

      The fresh start effect: temporal landmarks motivate aspirational behavior

      See also:

      How do people protect their long-term goals from the influence of short-term motives or temptations?

      Finally…

      You might like this previous main feature of ours that was specifically about getting oneself through those “middle” parts:

      How To Keep On Keeping On… Long Term!

      Enjoy!

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      • A Surprisingly Powerful Tool: Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing

        10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

        Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)

        What skeletons are in your closet? As life goes on, most of accumulate bad experiences as well as good ones, to a greater or lesser degree. From clear cases of classic PTSD, to the widely underexamined many-headed beast that is C-PTSD*, our past does affect our present. Is there, then, any chance for our future being different?

        *PTSD is typically associated with military veterans, for example, or sexual assault survivors. There was a clear, indisputable, Bad Thing™ that was experienced, and it left a psychological scar. When something happens to remind us of that—say, there are fireworks, or somebody touches us a certain way—it’ll trigger an immediate strong response of some kind.

        These days the word “triggered” has been popularly misappropriated to mean any adverse emotional reaction, often to something trivial.

        But, not all trauma is so clear. If PTSD refers to the result of that one time you were smashed with a sledgehammer, C-PTSD (Complex PTSD) refers to the result of having been hit with a rolled-up newspaper every few days for fifteen years, say.

        This might have been…

        • childhood emotional neglect
        • a parent with a hair-trigger temper
        • bullying at school
        • extended financial hardship as a young adult
        • “just” being told or shown all too often that your best was never good enough
        • the persistent threat (real or imagined) of doom of some kind
        • the often-reinforced idea that you might lose everything at any moment

        If you’re reading this list and thinking “that’s just life though”, you might be in the estimated 1 in 5 people with (often undiagnosed) C-PTSD.

        For more on C-PTSD, see our previous main feature:

        PTSD, But, Well…. Complex

        So, what does eye movement have to do with this?

        Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapeutic technique whereby a traumatic experience (however small or large; it could be the memory of that one time you said something very regrettable, or it could be some horror we couldn’t describe here) is recalled, and then “detoothed” by doing a bit of neurological jiggery-pokery.

        How the neurological jiggery-pokery works:

        By engaging the brain in what’s called bilateral stimulation (which can be achieved in various ways, but a common one is moving the eyes rapidly from side to side, hence the name), the event can be re-processed, in much the same way that we do when dreaming, and relegated safely to the past.

        This doesn’t mean you’ll forget the event; you’d need to do different exercises for that.

        See also our previous main feature:

        The Dark Side Of Memory (And How To Make Your Life Better)

        That’s not the only aspect of EMDR, though…

        EMDR is not just about recalling traumatic events while moving your eyes from side-to-side. What an easy fix that would be! There’s a little more to it.

        The process also involves (ideally with the help of a trained professional) examining what other memories, thoughts, feelings, come to mind while doing that. Sometimes, a response we have today associated with, for example, a feeling of helplessness, or rage in conflict, or shame, or anything really, can be connected to previous instances of feeling the same thing. And, each of those events will reinforce—and be reinforced by—the others.

        An example of this could be an adult who struggles with substance abuse (perhaps alcohol, say), using it as a crutch to avoid feelings of [insert static here; we don’t know what the feelings are because they’re being avoided], that were first created by, and gradually snowballed from, some adverse reaction to something they did long ago as a child, then reinforced at various times later in life, until finally this adult doesn’t know what to do, but they do know they must hide it at all costs, or suffer the adverse reaction again. Which obviously isn’t a way to actually overcome anything.

        EMDR, therefore, seeks to not just “detooth” a singular traumatic memory, but rather, render harmless the whole thread of memories.

        Needless to say, this kind of therapy can be quite an emotionally taxing experience, so again, we recommend trying it only under the guidance of a professional.

        Is this an evidence-based approach?

        Yes! It’s not without its controversy, but that’s how it is in the dog-eat-dog world of academia in general and perhaps psychotherapy in particular. To give a note to some of why it has some controversy, here’s a great freely-available paper that presents “both sides” (it’s more than two sides, really); the premises and claims, the criticisms, and explanations for why the criticisms aren’t necessarily actually problems—all by a wide variety of independent research teams:

        Research on Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) as a Treatment for PTSD

        To give an idea of the breadth of applications for EMDR, and the evidence of the effectiveness of same, here are a few additional studies/reviews (there are many):

        As for what the American Psychiatric Association says about it:

        ❝After assessing the 120 outcome studies pertaining to the focus areas, we conclude that for two of the areas (i.e., PTSD in children and adolescents and EMDR early interventions research) the strength of the evidence is rated at the highest level, whereas the other areas obtain the second highest level.❞

        Source: The current status of EMDR therapy, specific target areas, and goals for the future

        Want to learn more?

        To learn a lot more than we could include here, check out the APA’s treatment guidelines (they are written in a fashion that is very accessible to a layperson):

        APA | Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy

        Take care!

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      • Hanging Exercises For Complete Beginners & Older Adults

        10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

        Hanging (not the kind with a gallows) is great for the heath, improving not just strength and mobility, but also—critically—looking after spinal health too. Amanda Raynor explains in this video how this exercise is accessible to anyone (unless you have no arms, in which case, sorry, this one is just not for you—though hanging by your legs will also give similar spinal benefits!).

        Hanging out

        Hanging can be done at home or at a park, with minimal equipment (a bar, a sturdy tree branch, etc).

        Note: the greater the diameter of the bar, the more it will work your grip strength, and/but the harder it will be. So, it’s recommend to start with a narrow-diameter bar first.

        Getting started:

        • Start with a “dead hang”: grip the bar with hands shoulder-width apart, thumb wrapped around.
        • Aim to hang without pulling up; build endurance gradually (10–30 seconds is fine at first).
        • Work up to holding for 60 seconds in three sets as a fitness goal.

        Progression:

        • If unable to hang at all initially, use a chair or stool to support some body weight.
        • Gradually reduce foot support to increase duration of free hanging.
        • Start with 10 seconds, progressing by small increments (e.g: 15, 20, 25 seconds) until reaching 60 seconds.

        Advanced variations:

        • Move the body while hanging (e.g., circles, knee lifts).
        • Experiment with different grips (overhand, underhand) for varied muscle engagement.
        • Try scapular pulls or one-arm hangs for additional challenge and strength-building.

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      • Do CBD Gummies Work?

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        It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

        Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!

        In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

        As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

        So, no question/request too big or small

        ❝I take CBD gummies. I don’t know if they are worth buying. Can you find a study on the effectiveness of gummies❞

        If you take them, and you’re not sure whether they’re worth it, then it sounds like you’re not getting any observable benefit from them?

        If so, that would seem to answer your question, since presumably the reason that you are taking them is for relaxation and/or pain relief, so if you’re not getting the results you want, then no, they are not worth it.

        However! CBD gummies are an incredibly diverse and not-well-studied product, so far, given the relative novelty of their legality. By diverse we mean, they’re not well-standardized.

        In other words: the CBD gummies you get could be completely unlike CBD gummies from a different source.

        CBD itself (i.e. in forms other than just gummies, and mostly as oil) has been studied somewhat better, and we did a main feature on it here:

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        Companies selling CBD and CBD gummies may make bold claims that are not yet backed by science, so if you are buying them for those reasons, you might want to be aware:

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        Don’t Forget…

        Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

        Learn to Age Gracefully

        Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails: