Body Image Dissatisfaction/Appreciation Across The Ages
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Every second news article about body image issues is talking about teens and social media use, but science tells a different story.
A large (n=1,327) study of people of mixed genders aged 16–88 examined matters relating to people’s body image, expecting…
❝We hypothesized that body dissatisfaction and importance of appearance would be higher in women than in men, that body dissatisfaction would remain stable across age in women, and that importance of appearance would be lower in older women compared to younger women. Body appreciation was predicted to be higher in men than in women.❞
As they discovered, only half of that turned out to be true:
❝In line with our hypotheses, body dissatisfaction was higher in women than in men and was unaffected by age in women, and importance of appearance was higher in women than in men.
However, only in men did age predict a lower level of the importance of appearance. Compared to men, women stated that they would invest more hours of their lives to achieve their ideal appearance.
Contrary to our assumption, body appreciation improved and was higher in women across all ages than in men.❞
You can read the study in full here:
That’s a lot of information, and we don’t have the space to go into all parts of it here, fascinating as that would be. So we’re going to put two pieces of information (from the above) next to each other:
- body dissatisfaction was higher in women than in men and was unaffected by age in women
- body appreciation improved and was higher in women across all ages than in men
…and resolve this apparent paradox.
Dissatisfied appreciation
How is it that women are both more dissatisfied with, and yet also more appreciative of, their bodies?
The answer is that we can have positive and negative feelings about the same thing, without them cancelling each other out. In short, simply, feeling more feelings about it.
Whether the gender-related disparity in this case comes more from hormones or society could be vigorously debated, but chances are, it’s both. And, for our gentleman-readers, note that the principle still applies to you, even if scaled down on average.
Call to action:
- be aware of the negative feelings of body dissatisfaction
- focus on the positive feelings of body appreciation
While in theory both could motivate us to action, in reality, the former will tend to inform us (about what we might wish to change), while the latter will actually motivate us in a useful way (to do something positive about it).
This is because the negative feelings about body image tend to be largely based in shame, and shame is a useless motivator (i.e., it simply doesn’t work) when it comes to taking positive actions:
Why Shame Only Works Negatively
You can’t hate yourself into a body you love
That may sound like a wishy-washy platitude, but given the evidence on how shame works (and doesn’t), it’s true.
Instead, once you’ve identified the things about your body with which you’re dissatisfied, you can then assess:
- what can reasonably be changed
- whether it is important enough to you to change it
- how to go about usefully changing it
While weight issues are perhaps the most commonly-discussed body image consideration, to the point that often all others get forgotten, let’s look at something that’s generally more specific to adults, and also a very common cause of distress for women and men alike: hair loss/thinning.
If your hair is just starting to thin and fall, then if this bothers you, there’s a lot that can be done about it quite easily, but (and this is important) you have to love yourself enough to actually do it. Merely feeling miserable about it, and perhaps like you don’t deserve better, or that it is somehow a personal failing on your part, will not help.
If your hair has been gone for years, then chances are you’ve made your peace with this by now, and might not even take it back if a fairy godmother came along and offered to restore it magically. On the other hand, let’s say that you’re just coming out the other end of a 10-year-long depression, and perhaps you let a lot of things go that you now wish you hadn’t, and maybe your hair is one of them. In this case, now you need to decide whether getting implants (likely the only solution at this late stage) is worth it.
Note that in both cases, whatever the starting point and whether the path ahead is easy or hard, the person who has dissatisfaction and/but still values themself and their body will get what they need.
In contrast, the person who has dissatisfaction and does not value themself and their body, will languish.
The person without dissatisfaction, of course, probably already has what they need.
In short: identification of dissatisfaction + love and appreciation of oneself and one’s body → motivation to usefully take action (out of love, not hate)
Now, dear reader, apply the same thinking to whatever body image issues you may have, and take it from there!
Embodiment
A quick note in closing: if you are a person with no body dissatisfactions, there are two main possible reasons:
- You are genuinely happy with your body in all respects. Congratulations!
- You have disassociated from your body to such an extent that it’s become a mere vehicle to you and you don’t care about it.
This latter may seem like a Zen-level win, but in fact it’s a warning sign for depression, so please do examine that even if you don’t “feel” depressed (depression is often characterized by a lack of feelings), perhaps by taking the (very quick) free PHQ9 Test ← under 2 minutes; immediate results; industry-standard diagnostic tool
Take care!
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Broad Beans vs Sweetcorn – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing broad beans to sweetcorn, we picked the broad beans.
Why?
Firstly, you may be wondering: “aren’t broad beans fava beans?”, and yes, yes they are, but by convention, broad beans are the young green beans, while fava beans are the mature beans of the plant. Similar situation to the relationship between edamame and soybeans. And, in both cases, you’re more likely to put the young green beans in a salad, thus making the broad beans the more reasonable vegetable to compare to the sweetcorn. On which note…
In terms of macros, the broad beans have more protein and fiber, while the sweetcorn has more carbs. We call that a win for the beans.
Looking at the vitamins, the broad beans have (barely) more vitamin B6, while the sweetcorn has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B5, B9, E, and choline. An easy win for the corn this time.
In the category of minerals, the situation is reversed: broad beans have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while sweetcorn is not higher in any minerals. So, a clear win for the beans.
Adding up the sections gives a 2:1 win for the beans over the corn, but by all means enjoy either or both—together is great, and diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
What’s Your Plant Diversity Score?
Enjoy!
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Almonds vs Walnuts – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing almonds to walnuts, we picked the almonds.
Why?
It wasn’t just our almond bias, but it was close!
In terms of macros, the main important differences are:
- Almonds are higher in protein
- Walnuts are higher in fats (they are healthy fats)
So far, so even.
In terms of vitamins, both are rich in many vitamins; mostly the same ones. However, walnuts have more of most of the B vitamins (except for B2 and B3, where almonds win easily), and almonds have more vitamin E by several orders of magnitude.
So far, so balanced.
Almonds have slightly more choline.
Almonds have a better mineral profile, with more of most minerals that they both contain, and especially, a lot more calcium.
Both nuts have [sometimes slightly different, but] comparable benefits against diabetes, cancer, neurodegeneration, and other diseases.
In summary
This one’s close. After balancing out the various “almonds have this but walnuts have that” equal-but-different benefits, we’re going to say almonds take first place by virtue of the better mineral profile, and more choline.
But: enjoy both!
Learn more
You might like this previous article of ours:
Why You Should Diversify Your Nuts
Take care!
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Why Telomeres Shorten, & What Can Be Done About It
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Telomeres are protective caps at the ends of our DNA, similar to the plastic tips on shoelaces (there’s a repeated “junk DNA” string, TTAGGG in humans, kept safe in a sheathe, which made of shelterin, a protein complex).
They prevent our genetic material from becoming damaged or tangled. However, each time a cell divides, telomeres get a little shorter because the copying process isn’t perfect (DNA polymerase can’t replicate everything inside the sheathe, because it is too well-protected).
So, how do we deal with this?
Lacing up for long life
An enzyme called telomerase (discovered as recently as 2009 by Nobel Prize-winning scientists Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn et al.) can rebuild telomeres. It has two main parts: one part1 that makes new DNA and another part2 that acts as a guide. Most cells don’t produce enough telomerase, so telomeres still tend to shrink over time.
1 TERT (Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase), which synthesizes telomeric DNA
2 TERC (Telomerase RNA Component), which serves as a templateWhen telomeres become too short, cells stop dividing. Some cells may enter a damaged state (e.g. senescent “zombie” cells) or die. In some cases, cells bypass this limit by reactivating telomerase, which can lead to cancer.
Studies on mice show that when telomerase is missing, they age more quickly and struggle to repair tissues. When telomerase is restored, aging effects are reversed. Human research also links short telomeres to age-related diseases like immune system decline and organ damage.
Researchers have already found some ways to slow aging by:
- Activating telomerase (e.g. with small molecules like TA-65).
- Gene therapy to transiently express telomerase.
- Stabilizing TERC RNA component to prevent degradation.
However, increasing telomerase too much could raise the risk of cancer. So, it’s a bit of a juggling act yet.
For more on all of this, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Fisetin: The Anti-Aging Assassin ← kills senescent cells, meaning newer cells are copied rather than older ones, resulting in copied cells with less DNA damage
Take care!
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Avoiding/Managing Osteoarthritis
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Avoiding/Managing Osteoarthritis
Arthritis is the umbrella term for a cluster of joint diseases involving inflammation of the joints, hence “arthr-” (joint) “-itis” (suffix used to denote inflammation).
Inflammatory vs Non-Inflammatory Arthritis
Arthritis is broadly divided into inflammatory arthritis and non-inflammatory arthritis.
Some forms, such as rheumatoid arthritis, are of the inflammatory kind. We wrote about that previously:
See: Avoiding/Managing Rheumatoid Arthritis
You may be wondering: how does one get non-inflammatory inflammation of the joints?
The answer is, in “non-inflammatory” arthritis, such as osteoarthritis, the damage comes first (by general wear-and-tear) and inflammation generally follows as part of the symptoms, rather than the cause.
So the name can be a little confusing. In the case of osteo- and other “non-inflammatory” forms of arthritis, you definitely still want to keep your inflammation at bay as best you can; it’s just not the prime focus.
So, what should we focus on?
First and foremost: avoiding wear-and-tear if possible. Naturally, we all must live our lives, and sometimes that means taking a few knocks, and definitely it means using our joints. An unused joint would suffer just as much as an abused one. But, we can take care of our joints!
We wrote on that previously, too:
See: How To Really Look After Your Joints
New osteoarthritis medication (hot off the press!)
At 10almonds, we try to keep on top of new developments, and here’s a shiny new one from this month:
- Methotrexate to treat hand osteoarthritis with synovitis (12th Oct, clinical trial)
- New research has found an existing drug could help many people with painful hand osteoarthritis (24th Oct, pop-science article about the above, but still written by one of the study authors!)
Note also that Dr. Flavia Cicuttini there talks about what we talked about above—that calling it non-inflammatory arthritis is a little misleading, as the inflammation still occurs.
And finally…
You might consider other lifestyle adjustments to manage your symptoms. These include:
- Exercise—gently, though!
- Rest—while keeping mobility going.
- Mobility aids—if it helps, it helps.
- Go easy on the use of braces, splints, etc—these can offer short-term relief, but at a long term cost of loss of mobility.
- Only you can decide where to draw the line when it comes to that trade-off.
You can also check out our previous article:
See: Managing Chronic Pain (Realistically!)
Take good care of yourself!
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Power Plates – by Gena Hamshaw
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Superfoods are all well and good, but there are only so many ways one can reasonably include watercress before it starts becoming a chore.
Happily, Gena Hamshaw is here with a hundred single-dish vegan meals, that are not only nutritionally balanced as the subtitle promises, but also, as the title suggests, are nutritional powerhouses too.
In the category of criticism, some ingredients are not so universally available as others. For example, depending on where you live, your local supermarket might not have freekeh, gochujang, or pomegranate molasses.
However, most of the recipes have ingredients that are easy enough to source in any medium-sized supermarket, and for the ones that aren’t, we do recommend ordering the ingredient online and trying something you might not otherwise have experienced—that’s an important thing in life, after all!
Bottom line: if you’d like plant-based meals that are packed full of nutrients and are delicious too, this is a top-tier recipe book.
Click here to check out Power Plates, and enjoy a wide variety of plant-based cuisine!
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Fully Present – by Dr. Susan Smalley and Diana Winston
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“The Science and the Art of…” tends to be a bit of a fuzzy obfuscation, but in this case, it’s accurate, especially in this presentation. The authors are, indeed, a scientist and an artist—and both practitioners, meeting in the middle.
As such, we get the clinical insights of a researcher and professor of psychiatry, and the grounded-yet-spiritual insights of an erstwhile Buddhist nun.
While the book is pop psychology in essence, the format is much more that of a textbook than a self-help book. Will it be useful for helping yourself anyway, though? Yes, absolutely, if you apply the information contained within.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that a textbook format makes it dry, though—the writing is very compelling, and you’ll find yourself turning pages eagerly. There’s no time like the present, after all!
Bottom line: if you find the scientific evidence-base for the usefulness of mindfulness appealing, but find a lot of guides a little fluffy, this one is perfectly balanced—and very well written, too.
Click here to check out Fully Present, bring yourself into the moment, always!
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