A Guide to the Good Life – by Dr. William Irvine

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“Living well” is a surprisingly underrated part of wellness. We spend much of our lives in turmoil. Some of us, windswept and battered by the storms of life; others, up in quietly crumbling towers, seemingly “great” but definitely not feeling it. Diet and exercise etc will only get us so far. What else, then, can we do?

For Dr. Irvine, the key lies in two main things:

  1. Deciding how we intend to live our life (and doing so)
  2. Remaining tranquil in the face of external stressors

In Japanese terms, these things can be seen in ikigai and zen, respectively. This book puts them in Western terms, specifically, that of Stoic philosophy. But the goals and methods are very similar.

Far from being an abstract tome of wishy-washy philosophy, this book offers down-to-earth practical exercises and easily applicable advice. There was even an exercise that was new to this reviewer who has been reading such things for decades.

The writing style is also, true to Stoic principles, unpretentious and simple. This is an easy book to read, while being nonethless very engaging from start to finish—and thereafter!

Bottom line: so far as we know, we only get one shot at life, so we might as well make it a good one. Applying the ideas found in this book can help any reader to live better, and take more joy in it along the way.

Click here to check out a Guide to the Good Life, and live your best!

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    Dr. Stancic beat MS with lifestyle changes—not a quick fix, but a path to life-long health. Discover her six key strategies for holistic wellbeing.

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  • The Dopamine Myth

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    The Dopamine Myth

    There’s a popular misconception that, since dopamine is heavily involved in addictions, it’s the cause.

    We see this most often in the context of non-chemical addictions, such as:

    • gambling
    • videogames
    • social media

    And yes, those things will promote dopamine production, and yes, that will feel good. But dopamine isn’t the problem.

    Myth: The Dopamine Detox

    There’s a trend we’ve mentioned before (it got a video segment a few Fridays back) about the idea of a “dopamine detox“, and how unscientific the idea is.

    For a start…

    • You cannot detox from dopamine, because dopamine is not a toxin
    • You cannot abstain from dopamine, because your brain regulates your dopamine levels to keep them correct*
    • If you could abstain from dopamine (and did), you would die, horribly.

    *unless you have a serious mental illness, for example:

    • forms of schizophrenia and/or psychosis that involve too much dopamine, or
    • forms of depression and/or neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s (and several kinds of dementia) in which you have too little dopamine
    • bipolar disorder in which dopamine levels can swing too far each way

    See also: Dopamine fasting: misunderstanding science spawns a maladaptive fad

    Myth: Dopamine is all about pleasure

    Dopamine is a pleasure-giving neurotransmitter, but it serves more purposes than that! It also plays a central role in many neurological processes, including:

    • Motivation
    • Learning and memory
    • Motor functions
    • Language faculties
    • Linear task processing

    Note for example how someone taking dopaminergic drugs (prescription or otherwise; could be anything from modafinil to cocaine) is not blissed out… They’re probably in a good mood, sure, but they’re focused, organized, quick-thinking, and so forth! This is not an ad for cocaine; cocaine is very bad for the health. But you see the features? So, what if we could have a little more dopamine… healthily?

    Dopamine—à la carte

    Let’s look at the examples we gave earlier of non-chemical addictions that are dopaminergic in nature:

    • gambling
    • videogames
    • social media

    They’re not actually that rewarding, are they?

    • Gamblers lose more than they win
    • Gamers cease to care about a game once they have won
    • Social media more often results in “doomscrolling”

    This is because what prompts the most dopamine is actually the anticipation of reward… not the thing itself, whose reward-pleasure is very fleeting. Nobody looks back at an hour of doomscrolling and thinks “well, that was fun; I’m glad I did that”.

    See the science: Liking, Wanting and the Incentive-Sensitization Theory of Addiction

    But what if we anticipated a reward from things that are not deleterious to health and productivity? Things that are neutral, or even good for us?

    Examples of this include:

    • Sex! (remember though, it’s not a race to the finish-line)
    • Good, nourishing food (bonus: some foods boost dopamine production nutritionally)
    • Exercise/sport (also prompts release of endorphins, win/win!)
    • Gamified learning apps (e.g. Duolingo)
    • Gamified health/productivity apps (anything with bells and whistles and things that go “ding” and measure streaks etc)

    Want to know more?

    That’s all we have time for today, but you might want to check out:

    10 Best Ways to Increase Dopamine Levels Naturally ← Science-based and well-sourced article!

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  • What’s Your Ikigai?

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    Ikigai: A Closer Look

    We’ve mentioned ikigai from time to time, usually when discussing the characteristics associated with Blue Zone centenarians, for example as number 5 of…

    The Five Pillars Of Longevity

    It’s about finding one’s “purpose”. Not merely a function, but what actually drives you in life. And, if Japanese studies can be extrapolated to the rest of the world, it has a significant and large impact on mortality (other factors being controlled for); not having a sense of ikigai is associated with an approximately 47%* increase in 7-year mortality risk in the categories of cardiovascular disease and external cause mortality:

    Sense of life worth living (ikigai) and mortality in Japan: Ohsaki Study

    *we did a lot of averaging and fuzzy math to get this figure; the link will show you the full stats though!

    In case that huge (n=43,391) study didn’t convince you, here’s another comparably-sized (n=43,117) one that found similarly, albeit framing the numbers the other way around, i.e. a comparable decrease in mortality risk for having a sense of ikigai:

    Associations of ikigai as a positive psychological factor with all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality among middle-aged and elderly Japanese people

    This study was even longer (12 years rather than 7), so the fact that it found pretty much the same results the 7-year study we cited just before is quite compelling evidence. Again, multivariate hazard ratios were adjusted for age, BMI, drinking and smoking status, physical activity, sleep duration, education, occupation, marital status, perceived mental stress, and medical history—so all these things were effectively controlled for statistically.

    Three kinds of ikigai

    There are three principal kinds of ikigai:

    • Social ikigai: for example, a caring role in the family or community, volunteer work, teaching
    • Asocial ikigai: for example, a solitary practice of self-discipline, spirituality, or study without any particular intent to teach others
    • Antisocial ikigai: for example, a strong desire to outlive an enemy, or to harm a person or group that one hates

    You may be thinking: wait, aren’t those last things bad?

    And… Maybe! But ikigai is not a matter of morality or even about “warm fuzzy feelings”. The fact is, having a sense of purpose increases longevity regardless of moral implications or niceness.

    Nevertheless, for obvious reasons there is a lot more focus on the first two categories (social and asocial), and of those, especially the first category (social), because on a social level, “we all do well when we all do well”.

    We exemplified them above, but they can be defined:

    • Social: working for the betterment of society
    • Asocial: working for the betterment of oneself

    Of course, for many people, the same ikigai may cover both of those—often somebody who excels at something for its own sake and/but shares it with others to enrich their lives also, for example a teacher, an artist, a scientist, etc.

    For it to cover both, however, requires that both parts of it are genuinely part of their feeling of ikigai, and not merely unintended consequences.

    For example, a piano teacher who loves music in general and the piano in particular, and would gladly spend every waking moment studying/practising/performing, but hates having to teach it, but needs to pay the bills so teaches it anyway, cannot be said to be living any kind of social ikigai there, just asocial. And in fact, if teaching the piano is causing them to not have the time or energy to pursue it for its own sake, they might not even be living any ikigai at all.

    One other thing to watch out for

    There is one last stumbling block, which is that while we can find ikigai, we can also lose it! Examples of this may include:

    • A professional whose job is their ikigai, until they face mandatory retirement or are otherwise unable to continue their work (perhaps due to disability, for example)
    • A parent whose full-time-parent role is their ikigai, until their children leave for school, university, life in general
    • A married person whose “devoted spouse” role is their ikigai, until their partner dies

    For this reason, people of any age can have a “crisis of identity” that’s actually more of a “crisis of purpose”.

    There are two ways of handling this:

    1. Have a back-up ikigai ready! For example, if your profession is your ikigai, maybe you have a hobby waiting in the wings, that you can smoothly jump ship to upon retirement.
    2. Embrace the fluidity of life! Sometimes, things don’t happen the way we expect. Sometimes life’s surprises can trip us up; sometimes they can leave us a sobbing wreck. But so long as life continues, there is an opportunity to pick ourselves up and decide where to go from that point. Note that this is not fatalism, by the way, it doesn’t have to be “this bad thing happened so that we could find this good thing, so really it was a good thing all along”. Rather, it can equally readily be “well, we absolutely did not want that bad thing to happen, but since it did, now we shall take it this way from here”.

    For more on developing/maintaining psychological resilience in the face of life’s less welcome adversities, see:

    Psychological Resilience Training

    …and:

    Putting The Abs Into Absurdity ← do not underestimate the power of this one

    Take care!

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  • Unlock Your Menopause Type – by Dr. Heather Hirsch

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    We featured Dr. Hirsch before, here, and mentioned this book which, at the time, we had not yet reviewed. So, here it is:

    What sets this apart from a lot of menopause books is that there’s a lot less “eat these foods and your body will magically stop exhibiting symptoms of menopause” and a lot more clinical observations and then evidence-based recommendations.

    Which is not to say don’t eat broccoli and almonds; by all means, they’re great foods and contain valuable nutrients that will help. But it is to say that if your doctor’s prescription is just broccoli and almonds, maybe have those as a snack while you’re looking for a second opinion.

    Dr. Hirsch goes through various “menopause types”, but it’s not so much “astrology for gynecologists” and more “here are clusters of menopause symptoms set against timeline of presentation, and they can be categorized into six main ways that between them, cover pretty much all my patients, which have been many”.

    So if you, dear reader, are menopausal (including peri- or post-), then the chances are very good that you will see yourself in one of those six sets.

    She then goes about how to prioritize relief and safety, and personalize a treatment plan, and maintain the best menopausal care for you, going forward.

    The style is easy-reading pop-science, punctuated by clinical science and 35 pages of references. She’s also, unlike a lot of authors in the genre, manifestly not invested in being a celebrity or making a personality cult out of her recommendations; she’s happy to stick to the science and put out good advice.

    Bottom line: if you or someone you love is menopausal (including peri- or post-), this is a top-tier book.

    Click here to check out Unlock Your Menopause Type, and get the best care for you!

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Related Posts

  • Switchcraft – by Dr. Elaine Fox
  • Aging Minds: Normal vs Abnormal Cognitive Decline

    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.

    Having a “senior moment” and having dementia are things that are quite distinct from one another; while we may very reasonably intend to fight every part of it, it’s good to know what’s “normal” as well as what is starting to look like progress into something more severe:

    Know the differences

    Cognitive abilities naturally decline with age, often beginning around 30 (yes, really—the first changes are mostly metabolic though, so this is far from set in stone). Commonly-noticed changes include:

    • slower thinking
    • difficulty multitasking
    • reduced attention
    • weaker memory.

    Over time, these changes have what is believed to be a two-way association (as in, each causes/worsens the other) with changes in brain structure, especially reduced hippocampal and frontal lobe volume.

    • Gradual cognitive changes are normal with age, whereas dementia involves a pathological decline affecting memory, problem-solving, and behavior.
    • Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) involves noticeable cognitive decline without disrupting daily life, while dementia affects everyday tasks like cooking or driving.
    • Dementia causes significant impairments, including motor challenges like falls or tremors, and dementia-induced cognitive decline symptoms include forgetfulness, getting lost, personality changes, and planning difficulties, often worsening with stress or illness.

    To best avoid these, consider: regular exercise, a nutritious diet, good quality sleep, social interaction, and mentally stimulating activities.

    Also, often forgotten (in terms of its relevance at least): managing cardiovascular health is very important too. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: what’s good for your heart is good for your brain (since the former feeds the latter with oxygen and nutrients, and also takes away detritus that will otherwise build up in the brain).

    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 to read:

    Is It Dementia? Spot The Signs (Because None Of Us Are Immune) ← we go into more specific detail here

    Take care!

    Don’t Forget…

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    Learn to Age Gracefully

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  • Beetroot vs Sweet Potato – Which is Healthier?

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    Our Verdict

    When comparing beetroot to sweet potato, we picked the sweet potato.

    Why?

    Quite a straightforward one today!

    In terms of macros, sweet potato has more protein, carbs, and fiber. The glycemic index of both of these root vegetables is similar (and in each case varies similarly depending on how it is cooked), so we’ll call the winner the one that’s more nutritionally dense—the sweet potato.

    Looking at vitamins next, beetroot has more vitamin B9 (and is in fact a very good source of that, unlike sweet potato), and/but sweet potato is a lot higher in vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, C, E, K, and choline. And we’re talking for example more than 582x more vitamin A, more than 17x more vitamin E, more than a 10x more vitamin K, and at least multiples more of the other vitamins mentioned. So this category’s not a difficult one to call for sweet potato.

    When it comes to minerals, beetroot has more selenium, while sweet potato has more calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and potassium. They’re approximately equal in iron and zinc. Another win for sweet potato.

    Of course, enjoy both. But if you’re looking for the root vegetable that’ll bring the most nutrients, it’s the sweet potato.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    No, beetroot isn’t vegetable Viagra. But here’s what else it can do

    Take care!

    Don’t Forget…

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  • Vitamin C (Drinkable) vs Vitamin C (Chewable) – 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 vitamin C (drinkable) to vitamin C (chewable), we picked the drinkable.

    Why?

    First let’s look at what’s more or less the same in each:

    • The usable vitamin C content is comparable
    • The bioavailability is comparable
    • The additives to hold it together are comparable

    So what’s the difference?

    With the drinkable, you also drink a glass of water

    If you’d like to read more about how to get the most out of the vitamins you take, you can do so here:

    Are You Wasting Your Vitamins? Maybe, But You Don’t Have To

    If you’d like to get some of the drinkable vitamin C, here’s an example product on Amazon

    Enjoy!

    Don’t Forget…

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    Learn to Age Gracefully

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