Spiced Fruit & Nut Chutney
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‘Tis the season to make the chutney that will then be aged chutney when you want it later! And unlike supermarket varieties with their ingredients list that goes “Sugar, spirit vinegar, inverted glucose-fructose syrup,” this one has an array of health-giving fruits and nuts (just omit the nuts if you or someone you may want to give this to has an allergy), and really nothing bad in here at all. And of course, tasty healthful spices!
You will need
- 2 red onions, chopped
- 1½ cups dried apricots, chopped
- 1½ cups dried figs, chopped
- 1 cup raisins
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- ½ lime, chopped and deseeded
- ¼ bulb garlic, chopped
- 1 hot pepper, chopped (your choice what kind; omit if you don’t like heat at all; multiply if you want more heat)
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup (omit for a less sweet chutney; there is sweetness in the dried fruits already, after all)
- 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
- 2 tsp sweet cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ MSG or 1 tsp low-sodium salt
- Extra virgin olive oil
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
1) Heat some oil in a heavy-based pan that will be large enough for all ingredients to go into eventually. Fry the onions on a gentle heat for around 15 minutes. We don’t need to caramelize them yet (this will happen with time), but we do want them soft and sweet already.
2) Add the ginger, garlic, and chili, and stir in well.
3) When the onions start to brown, add the fruit and stir well to mix thoroughly.
4) Add the honey or maple syrup (if using), and the vinegar; add the remaining spices/seasonings, so everything is in there now except the almonds.
5) Cook gently for another 30 minutes while stirring. At some point it’ll become thick and sticky; add a little water as necessary. You don’t want to drown it, but you do want it to stay moist. It’ll probably take only a few tablespoons of added water in total, but add them one at a time and stir in before judging whether more is needed. By the end of the 30 minutes, it should be more solid, to the point it can stand up by itself.
6) Add the almonds, stir to combine, and leave to cool. Put it in jars until you need it (or perhaps give it as gifts).
Alternative method: if you don’t want to be standing at a stove stirring for about an hour in total, you can use a slow cooker / crock pot instead. Put the same ingredients in the same order, but don’t stir them, just leave them in layers (this is because of the pattern of heat distribution; it’ll be hotter at the bottom, so the things that need to be more cooked should be there, and the design means they won’t burn) for about two hours, then stir well to mix thoroughly, and leave it for another hour or two, before turning it off to let it cool. Put it in jars until you need it (or perhaps give it as gifts).
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:
- Top 8 Fruits That Prevent & Kill Cancer ← figs and apricots appear here
- Apricots vs Peaches – Which is Healthier? ← have a guess
- Almonds vs Walnuts – Which is Healthier? ← almonds won, but walnuts were close and would also work in this recipe
- Pistachios vs Almonds – Which is Healthier? ← almonds won, but pistachios were close and would also work in this recipe
- Our Top 5 Spices: How Much Is Enough For Benefits? ← we scored 4/5 today!
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Life Extension Multivitamins vs Centrum Multivitamins – 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 Life Extension Multivitamins to Centrum Multivitamins, we picked the Life Extension.
Why?
The clue here was on the label: “two per day”. It’s not so that they can sell extra filler! It’s because they couldn’t fit it all into one.
While the Centrum Multivitamins is a (respectably) run-of-the-mill multivitamin (and multimineral) containing reasonable quantities of most vitamins and minerals that people supplement, the Life Extension product has the same plus more:
- More of the vitamins and minerals; i.e. more of them are hitting 100%+ of the RDA
- More beneficial supplements, including:
- Inositol, Alpha lipoic acid, Bio-Quercetin phytosome, phosphatidylcholine complex, Marigold extract, Apigenin, Lycopene, and more that we won’t list here because it starts to get complicated if we do.
We’ll have to write some main features on some of those that we haven’t written about before, but suffice it to say, they’re all good things.
Main take-away for today: sometimes more is better; it just necessitates then reading the label to check.
Want to get some Life Extension Multivitamins (and/or perhaps just read the label on the back)? Here they are on Amazon
PS: it bears mentioning, since we are sometimes running brands against each other head-to-head in this section: nothing you see here is an advertisement/sponsor unless it’s clearly marked as such. We haven’t, for example, been paid by Life Extension or any agent of theirs, to write the above. It’s just our own research and conclusion.
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People with dementia aren’t currently eligible for voluntary assisted dying. Should they be?
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Dementia is the second leading cause of death for Australians aged over 65. More than 421,000 Australians currently live with dementia and this figure is expected to almost double in the next 30 years.
There is ongoing public discussion about whether dementia should be a qualifying illness under Australian voluntary assisted dying laws. Voluntary assisted dying is now lawful in all six states, but is not available for a person living with dementia.
The Australian Capital Territory has begun debating its voluntary assisted dying bill in parliament but the government has ruled out access for dementia. Its view is that a person should retain decision-making capacity throughout the process. But the bill includes a requirement to revisit the issue in three years.
The Northern Territory is also considering reform and has invited views on access to voluntary assisted dying for dementia.
Several public figures have also entered the debate. Most recently, former Australian Chief Scientist, Ian Chubb, called for the law to be widened to allow access.
Others argue permitting voluntary assisted dying for dementia would present unacceptable risks to this vulnerable group.
Inside Creative House/Shutterstock Australian laws exclude access for dementia
Current Australian voluntary assisted dying laws exclude access for people who seek to qualify because they have dementia.
In New South Wales, the law specifically states this.
In the other states, this occurs through a combination of the eligibility criteria: a person whose dementia is so advanced that they are likely to die within the 12 month timeframe would be highly unlikely to retain the necessary decision-making capacity to request voluntary assisted dying.
This does not mean people who have dementia cannot access voluntary assisted dying if they also have a terminal illness. For example, a person who retains decision-making capacity in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease with terminal cancer may access voluntary assisted dying.
What happens internationally?
Voluntary assisted dying laws in some other countries allow access for people living with dementia.
One mechanism, used in the Netherlands, is through advance directives or advance requests. This means a person can specify in advance the conditions under which they would want to have voluntary assisted dying when they no longer have decision-making capacity. This approach depends on the person’s family identifying when those conditions have been satisfied, generally in consultation with the person’s doctor.
Another approach to accessing voluntary assisted dying is to allow a person with dementia to choose to access it while they still have capacity. This involves regularly assessing capacity so that just before the person is predicted to lose the ability to make a decision about voluntary assisted dying, they can seek assistance to die. In Canada, this has been referred to as the “ten minutes to midnight” approach.
But these approaches have challenges
International experience reveals these approaches have limitations. For advance directives, it can be difficult to specify the conditions for activating the advance directive accurately. It also requires a family member to initiate this with the doctor. Evidence also shows doctors are reluctant to act on advance directives.
Particularly challenging are scenarios where a person with dementia who requested voluntary assisted dying in an advance directive later appears happy and content, or no longer expresses a desire to access voluntary assisted dying.
What if the person changes their mind? Jokiewalker/Shutterstock Allowing access for people with dementia who retain decision-making capacity also has practical problems. Despite regular assessments, a person may lose capacity in between them, meaning they miss the window before midnight to choose voluntary assisted dying. These capacity assessments can also be very complex.
Also, under this approach, a person is required to make such a decision at an early stage in their illness and may lose years of otherwise enjoyable life.
Some also argue that regardless of the approach taken, allowing access to voluntary assisted dying would involve unacceptable risks to a vulnerable group.
More thought is needed before changing our laws
There is public demand to allow access to voluntary assisted dying for dementia in Australia. The mandatory reviews of voluntary assisted dying legislation present an opportunity to consider such reform. These reviews generally happen after three to five years, and in some states they will occur regularly.
The scope of these reviews can vary and sometimes governments may not wish to consider changes to the legislation. But the Queensland review “must include a review of the eligibility criteria”. And the ACT bill requires the review to consider “advanced care planning”.
Both reviews would require consideration of who is able to access voluntary assisted dying, which opens the door for people living with dementia. This is particularly so for the ACT review, as advance care planning means allowing people to request voluntary assisted dying in the future when they have lost capacity.
The legislation undergoes a mandatory review. Jenny Sturm/Shutterstock This is a complex issue, and more thinking is needed about whether this public desire for voluntary assisted dying for dementia should be implemented. And, if so, how the practice could occur safely, and in a way that is acceptable to the health professionals who will be asked to provide it.
This will require a careful review of existing international models and their practical implementation as well as what would be feasible and appropriate in Australia.
Any future law reform should be evidence-based and draw on the views of people living with dementia, their family caregivers, and the health professionals who would be relied on to support these decisions.
Ben White, Professor of End-of-Life Law and Regulation, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology; Casey Haining, Research Fellow, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology; Lindy Willmott, Professor of Law, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland University of Technology, and Rachel Feeney, Postdoctoral research fellow, Queensland University of Technology
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Fast. Feast. Repeat – by Dr. Gin Stephens
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We’ve reviewed intermittent fasting books before, so what makes this one different?
The title “Fast. Feast. Repeat.” doesn’t give much away; after all, we already know that that’s what intermittent fasting is.
After taking the reader though the basics of how intermittent fasting works and what it does for the body, much of the rest of the book is given over to improvements.
That’s what the real strength of this book is: ways to make intermittent fasting more efficient, including how to avoid plateaus. After all, sometimes it can seem like the only way to push further with intermittent fasting is to restrict the eating window further. Not so!
Instead, Dr. Stephens gives us ways to keep confusing our metabolism (in a good way) if, for example, we had a weight loss goal we haven’t met yet.
Best of all, this comes without actually having to eat less.
Bottom line: if you want to be in good physical health, and/but also believe that life is for living and you enjoy eating food, then this book can resolve that age-old dilemma!
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Half Of Americans Over 50 Have Hemorrhoids, But They Can Be Prevented!
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.
It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!
Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!
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
❝Hello. I was hoping you could give some useful tips about how to avoid a painful ailment that has affected Ernest Hemingway, Karl Marx, David Livingstone, Napoleon, Marilyn Monroe, King Alfred, and Martin Luther, and, I confess, me from time to time … namely, hemorrhoids. Help!❞
Firstly: that list could be a lot longer! We don’t have global stats, but in the US for example, half of adults over 50 have hemorrhoids.
So, you’re certainly not alone. People just don’t talk about it.
But, there are preventative things you can do:
Fiber, fiber, fiber. See also:
Level-Up Your Fiber Intake! (Without Difficulty Or Discomfort)
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
This one’s simple enough. If you are dehydrated, constipation is more likely, and with it, hemorrhoids.
Watch your meds…
Some medications can cause constipation—painkillers containing codeine are a common culprit, for example.
When you go, go!
Not only can prolonged straining promote hemorrhoids, but also (if you’ll pardon the phrasing—there’s only so delicately we can say this) simply sitting with things partway “open” down there is not good for its health; things can quickly become irritated, and that can lead to hemorrhoids.
So: when you go, go. Leave your phone in another room!
Wash—but carefully.
Beyond your normal showering/bathing routine, a bidet is a great option for keeping things happy down there, if you have that option available to you.
However, if you have hemorrhoids, don’t use soap, as this can cause irritation and make it worse.
Warm water is fine, as is a salt bath, and pat dry and/or use gentle wet-wipes rather than rougher paper.
You can follow up with a hemorrhoid cream of your choice (or hydrocortisone, unless that’s contraindicated by another condition you have)
Know when to seek help
Hemorrhoids will usually go away by themselves if not exacerbated. But if it’s getting unduly difficult, and/or you’re bleeding down there, it’s time to see a doctor.
Note on bleeding: even if you’re 100% sure you have hemorrhoids, there are still other reasons you could be bleeding, and so it needs checking out.
Hemorrhoid treatment, if needed, will vary depending on severity. Beyond creams and lotions, there are other options that are less fun but sometimes necessary, including injections, electrotherapy, banding, or surgery.
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
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Learn to Age Gracefully
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Radishes vs Endives – 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 radishes to endives, we picked the endives.
Why?
These are both great, but there’s a clear winner here in every category!
In terms of macros, radishes have more carbs while endives have more fiber and protein.
In the category of vitamins, radishes have more of vitamins B6 and C, while endives have more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B4, B5, B7, B9, E, K, and choline.
When it comes to minerals, things are not less one-sided: radishes have more selenium, while endives have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc.
You may be thinking: but what about radishes’ shiny red bit? Doesn’t that usually mean more of something important, like carotenoids or anthocyanins or something? And the answer is that the red pigment in radishes is so thinly-distributed on the exterior that it’s barely there and if we’re looking at values per 100g, it’s a tiny fraction of a tiny fraction.
In both cases, their bitter taste comes mostly from flavonols, of which mostly kaempferol, of which endives have about 20x what radishes have, on average.
All in all, an overwhelming win for endives.
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
Enjoy Bitter Foods For Your Heart & Brain
Take care!
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
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Coach’s Plan – by Mike Kavanagh
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A sports coach’s job is to prepare a plan, give it to the player(s), and hold them accountable to it. Change the strategy if needs be, call the shots. The job of the player(s) is then to follow those instructions.
If you have trouble keeping yourself accountable, Kavanagh argues that it can be good to separate how you approach things.
Not just “coach yourself”, but put yourself entirely in the coach’s shoes, as though you were a separate person, then switch back, and follow those instructions, trusting in your coach’s guidance.
The book also provides illustrative examples and guides the reader through some potential pitfalls—for example, what happens when morning you doesn’t want to do the things that evening you decided would be best?
The absolute backbone of this method is that it takes away the paralysing self-doubt that can occur when we second-guess ourselves mid-task.
In short, this book will fire up your enthusiasm and give you a reliable fall-back for when your motivation’s flagging.
Don’t Forget…
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Learn to Age Gracefully
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