Balanced Energy Cake Bars
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Unlike a lot of commercially available products, these bars won’t spike your blood sugars in the same way. There’s technically plenty of sugar in them, mostly from the chopped dates, but they’re also full of fiber, protein, and healthy fats. This means they can give you an energy boost (along with lots of gut-healthy, heart-healthy, and brain-healthy ingredients) without any crash later. They’re also delicious, and make for a great afternoon snack!
You will need
- 1 cup oats
- 15 Medjool dates, pitted and soaked in hot water for 15 minutes
- 3 carrots, grated
- 4oz almond butter
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp flaxseeds, milled
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
- Optional: your choice of dried fruit and/or chopped nuts (mix it up; diversity is good!)
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
1) Steam the grated carrots for 3–4 minutes; pat dry and allow to cool
2) Drain and pat dry the dates, roughly chop them and add them to a bowl with the carrots. Because we chopped the dates rather than blended them (as many recipes do), they keep their fiber, which is important.
3) Add the oats, seeds, almond butter, and tahini. Also add in any additional dried fruit and/or chopped nuts you selected for the optional part. Mix well; the mixture should be quite firm. If it isn’t, add more oats.
4) Press the mixture into a 10″ square baking tin lined with baking paper. Refrigerate for a few hours, before cutting into bar shapes (or squares if you prefer). These can now be eaten immediately or stored for up to a week.
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:
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‘Free birthing’ and planned home births might sound similar but the risks are very different
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The death of premature twins in Byron Bay in an apparent “wild birth”, or free birth, last week has prompted fresh concerns about giving birth without a midwife or medical assistance.
This follows another case from Victoria this year, where a baby was born in a critical condition following a reported free birth.
It’s unclear how common free birthing is, as data is not collected, but there is some evidence free births increased during the COVID pandemic.
Planned home births also became more popular during the pandemic, as women preferred to stay away from hospitals and wanted their support people with them.
But while free births and home births might sound similar, they are a very different practice, with free births much riskier. So what’s the difference, and why might people opt for a free birth?
What are home births?
Planned home births involve care from midwives, who are registered experts in childbirth, in a woman’s home.
These registered midwives work privately, or are part of around 20 publicly funded home birth programs nationally that are attached to hospitals.
They provide care during the pregnancy, labour and birth, and in the first six weeks following the birth.
The research shows that for women with low risk pregnancies, planned home births attended by competent midwives (with links to a responsive mainstream maternity system) are safe.
Home births result in less intervention than hospital births and women perceive their experience more positively.
What are free births?
A free birth is when a woman chooses to have a baby, usually at home, without a registered health professional such as a midwife or doctor in attendance.
Different terms such as unassisted birth or wild pregnancy or birth are also used to refer to free birth.
The parents may hire an unregulated birth worker or doula to be a support at the birth but they do not have the training or medical equipment needed to manage emergencies.
Women may have limited or no health care antenatally, meaning risk factors such as twins and breech presentations (the baby coming bottom first) are not detected beforehand and given the right kind of specialist care.
Why do some people choose to free birth?
We have been studying the reasons women and their partners choose to free birth for more than a decade. We found a previous traumatic birth and/or feeling coerced into choices that are not what the woman wants were the main drivers for avoiding mainstream maternity care.
Australia’s childbirth intervention rates – for induction or augmentation of labour, episiotomy (cutting the tissue between the vaginal opening and the anus) and caesarean section – are comparatively high.
One in ten women report disrespectful or abusive care in childbirth and some decide to make different choices for future births.
Lack of options for a natural birth and birth choices such as home birth or birth centre birth also played a major role in women’s decision to free birth.
Publicly funded home birth programs have very strict criteria around who can be accepted into the program, excluding many women.
In other countries such as the United Kingdom, Netherlands and New Zealand, publicly funded home births are easier to access.
It can be difficult to access home birth services in Australia.
Ink Drop/ShutterstockOnly around 200 midwives provide private midwifery services for home births nationally. Private midwives are yet to obtain insurance for home births, which means they are risking their livelihoods if something goes wrong and they are sued.
The cost of a home birth with a private midwife is not covered by Medicare and only some health funds rebate some of the cost. This means women can be out of pocket A$6-8,000.
Access to home birth is an even greater issue in rural and remote Australia.
How to make mainstream care more inclusive
Many women feel constrained by their birth choices in Australia. After years of research and listening to thousands of women, it’s clear more can be done to reduce the desire to free birth.
As my co-authors and I outline in our book, Birthing Outside the System: The Canary in the Coal Mine, this can be achieved by:
- making respectful care a reality so women aren’t traumatised and alienated by maternity care and want to engage with it
- supporting midwifery care. Women are seeking more physiological and social ways of birthing, minimising birth interventions, and midwives are the experts in this space
- supporting women’s access to their chosen place of birth and model of care and not limiting choice with high out-of-pocket expenses
- providing more flexible, acceptable options for women experiencing risk factors during pregnancy and/or birth, such as having a previous caesarean birth, having twins or having a baby in breech position. Women experiencing these complications experience pressure to have a caesarean section
- getting the framework right with policies, guidelines, education, research, regulation and professional leadership.
Ensuring women’s rights and choices are informed and respected means they’re less likely to feel they’re left with no other option.
Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery, Associate Dean Research and HDR, Midwifery Discipline Leader, Western Sydney University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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How Dandelions Can Protect Your Brain
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…and other items from this week’s health science news:
Clock these dandelion brain benefits:
Often the star of our “This or That” section, winning vs almost everything, dandelion greens are incontrovertibly nutritional heavyweights.
And now, there’s more: dandelions’ polyphenols are not just antioxidants, but also can inhibit enzymes such as acetylcholinesterase, making them top candidates for supporting brain health after digestion. This is important, because Alzheimer’s involves reduced acetylcholine due to increased acetylcholinesterase activity, along with inflammation driven by lipoxygenase and damage from reactive nitrogen species.
In other words:
- The brain needs acetylcholine (a neurotransmitter) to function correctly
- Acetylcholinesterase (an enzyme) lowers acetylcholine levels
- Dandelions’ polyphenols reduce the acetylcholineresterase that would otherwise be reducing your acetylcholine levels
- Therefore you have more acetylcholine remaining than you otherwise would have
- Therefore you are enjoying a measure of protection against an important axis of Alzheimer’s pathology
And the good news is that leaves, flowers, and roots were analyzed, and leaves had the highest total phenolic content (3987mg/100 g) and flavonoid content (3250mg/100 g).
Those numbers are huge, by the way; not many plants score anywhere near this level!
It’s also worth noting that salads are better than tea, in this regard, because polyphenol availability increased during the intestinal phase after an initial drop in the stomach, suggesting digestion can release bound compounds.
Read in full: Dandelion leaves boost brain-protective compounds after digestion
Related: Dandelion: Time For Evidence On Its Benefits?
Fast food, fast demise
“Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are generally bad for the health” is not breaking news, nor is their typically adverse impact on heart health.
This is usually put down to them being low in most nutrients, and dangerously high in such things as salt and saturated fats.
However, the harm comes in more ways, and new research (linked below) shows that beyond the fact that higher intake of ultra-processed foods is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including stroke and cardiovascular mortality, the additives commonly included in such foods may be doing their share of the damage too, in several different ways:
- Oxidative stress: reactive oxygen species (ROS) linked to additives can reinforce inflammation and contribute to endothelial dysfunction and plaque formation. You don’t want any of those things.
- Inflammation: UPFs may activate NF-κB, increasing inflammatory cytokines like IL-6 and TNF-α, which promote chronic inflammation and vascular damage everywhere they go.
- Gut microbiome disruption: additives also tend to reduce beneficial gut bacteria, promote pro-inflammatory species instead, and increase intestinal permeability (i.e. create “leaky gut syndrome”), leading to systemic inflammation throughout the body.
Further, the researchers say that these combined mechanisms “support early atherogenesis”, increasing risks of hypertension, thrombosis, and long-term cardiovascular disease.
In numbers:
- The main cohort evidence: in the NutriNet-Santé study (over 105,000 participants), a 10% increase in UPF energy intake was linked to a 12% higher cardiovascular risk.
- Other large US studies: data from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and Nurses’ Health Studies showed 11% higher CVD risk and 16% higher coronary heart disease risk in the highest UPF intake group.
- Additional cohorts: the Framingham Offspring cohort found each extra daily serving of UPFs increased cardiovascular event risk by 7–9%, independent of diet quality. Note that “serving” here means what it says is a serving on the pack, not what you personally eat in one sitting. So we’re talking 80g of French fries, or 5 Pringles, etc.
- Meta-analysis of these and more: across 22 prospective studies (over 1 million participants), UPF consumption was associated with a 17% higher cardiovascular risk, with a dose-response relationship (i.e. eat more UPFs, get more CVD).
All this to say… It can really be a very good idea to ask yourself “what ultra-processed foods do I eat?” and see what can be reasonably cut out and replaced with whole food alternatives.
Read in full: Heavily processed foods may raise heart disease risk beyond poor nutrition alone
Related: How Likely Is It That Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) Will Kill You?
At the seat of a different falling problem from most
It’s easy to think that the risk of falling is just not something that affects people using wheelchairs or scooters, but in fact, more than 98% of wheelchair and scooter users reported some level of concern about falling.
This fear itself can be a problem, because the very fear of falling can lead people to avoid physical and social activities, contributing to deconditioning, secondary health issues, and reduced quality of life.
So, how justified is the fear?
In a very recent study (Dr. Sahel Moein et al., article linked below, study linked in the article), 68% of participants experienced a fall-related injury within the past year. So, a very strong real-world risk.
This risk is exacerbated by the fact that many standard fall risk assessments (such as those used by hospitals and other care providers) don’t apply well to wheelchair users.
For this reason, Dr. Moein and her team developed the “Fall Concerns Scale for People who Use Wheelchairs and Scooters”, and also the iROLL (Individualized Reduction of Falls) program, which is a six-week intervention designed to improve wheelchair skills, build confidence, and teach users how to get up after a fall.
In the words of Dr. Laura Price, a member of Dr. Moein’s team:
❝We cannot simply provide a device and expect people to be able to use it effectively. Training is critical to ensure that people can use a device to its full extent.❞
Read in full: Falls are prevalent concerns among people who use wheelchairs, scooters
Related: Fall Special
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A Very Accessible New Way To Regenerate Your Gut
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In fact, a plurality of ways:
Polyamines to the rescue
Polyamines are small molecules (by which we mean: small even by molecular standards) made of more than one amino acid. They occur naturally in our bodies, and in many of the foods we eat.
We’ve written about some polyamines before:
- Firstly: Spermidine For Longevity
- Recently: Spermine vs Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s!
No, not all polyamines have sperm-themed names, but that’s just where several important ones were first identified. What can we say; apparently scientists just loved looking at that stuff in the 1800s!
Another important polyamine has the delightful name putrescine, whose name comes from…
The smell of death: evidence that putrescine elicits threat management mechanisms
Scientists (Dr. Nadja Gebert et al.) have identified why these polyamines and more should ideally form a good part of our diet.
Specifically, they found that after intestinal damage, the body increases its own polyamine levels, such as spermidine and putrescine to support protein homeostasis and regeneration. Upon testing further, they found that boosting the polyamine metabolism with dietary interventions and/or oral supplementation (which one might consider a dietary intervention in any case) restores regenerative capacity in aged intestinal cells.
In other words, the aging intestine remains capable of repair at the molecular level—it just needs the right molecular trigger to kick-start its regenerative capacity again.
And there’s more! Per the study authors,
❝By analyzing proteins and metabolites in intestinal tissue and conducting experiments to show how the intestine recovers after damage caused by 5-fluorouracil, we were able to determine that the reduced regenerative capacity of older intestinal cells is not an unavoidable effect of aging. Rather, it is directly related to a disruption in proteostasis.
Aging is not an irreversible process. If we understand how cells lose their balance—and how we can restore it—we may not be able to stop aging, but we can significantly mitigate its effects on our bodies.❞
You can read the paper in full, here: Polyamines sustain epithelial regeneration in aged intestines by modulating protein homeostasis
And if you’re wondering how to get more polyamines in your diet, then here you go:
Top 12 Food Sources Of Each Of The Most Important Polyamines
And if you’d rather go for a supplement-based approach then check out:
The Orchid That Renovates Your Gut (Gently) ← along with where to get it!
Want to learn more?
For a much more detailed overview of healing your gut, you might like this book that we reviewed a little while back:
Heal Your Gut, Save Your Brain – by Dr. Partha Nandi
Enjoy!
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Prozac’s Effect On Neuroplasticity
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Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change over time, in accordance with our experiences, and what things we practise.
For example, before the ubiquity of GPS, taxi-drivers tended to get unusually well-developed in areas of the brain associated with memory and spatial reasoning. In contrast, your writer here, a person who does a lot of reading and writing and also uses at least 3+ languages daily, doubtlessly has overdeveloped language centers. A visual artist might develop much better visual centers. And so forth.
These changes are in large part physical, and very easy to measure (with the right equipment). It’s not hard to see when a certain part of the brain has proportionally more volume than usual, for example.
So, what does Prozac have to do with it?
More than a mood-brightener
Aside from the obvious primary intended effect of antidepressants (i.e., to treat depression by increasing relevant neurotransmitter levels), antidepressants have a bad reputation for side effects.
For example: How Serious Are Antidepressant Side Effects?
Some side effects are often exaggerated in popular (mis)understanding, such as: How Much Weight Gain Do Antidepressants Cause? ← the answer being: often less weight than people gain per year when not on antidepressants (although weight gain can happen, especially if one was previously under-eating while depressed)
When it comes to Prozac (the most well-known brand name for fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), which works by increasing serotonin levels in the brain by decreasing the rate at which the brain “loses” serotonin), it’s worth initially noting that while serotonin is mostly associated with happiness, it does other things too; see: Serotonin For More Than Just Happiness
The study we wrote about in that article found that it’s not just a matter of how much serotonin we have, but also where in the brain in accumulates, and which parts of the brain get prioritized. Sound familiar?
Recently, researchers (Dr. Ilida Suleymanova et al.) investigated the effects of serotonin on neuroplasticity, and found that indeed fluoxetine (Prozac) does more than boost serotonin—it also reshapes how certain brain cells manage energy and plasticity.
This happens as quickly as the first two weeks; for example, parvalbumin interneurons in the prefrontal cortex, which normally keep brain activity balanced, became less rigid after two weeks of treatment (which makes further changes much more possible), bearing in mind that since depression is linked to overly rigid brain circuits, this means that fluoxetine can “soften” these networks, allowing rewiring and flexibility.
- Specifically, mitochondria in these rigidity-inducing braincells got disempowered by reduced expression of energy-production genes (remember, people think of genes as unchangeable, but they can be turned on and off by hormones/neurotransmitters, amongst other things).
- Even more specifically, genes tied to adaptability were upregulated, and perineuronal nets that restrict plasticity were weakened.
To read this paper in full, see: Chronic treatment with fluoxetine regulates mitochondrial features and plasticity-associated transcriptomic pathways in parvalbumin-positive interneurons of prefrontal cortex
This becomes extra important as we age, because neurogenesis (the brain’s ability to produce new brain cells) is an important factor in neuroplasticity.
Contrary to popular belief, we continue to do this all the way through life, albeit it does usually slow down in older age, but there are things that affect how much this happens, and when.
To learn more about that, see: Building Your Brain At Every Age
Finally, if you’ve been considering antidepressants but haven’t been sure if they’d be right for you, then before you rush to your doctor to get a prescription for Prozac, you might want to check out: Antidepressants: Personalization Is Key! ← because it makes a difference which one you pick
Alternatively, if you don’t love the idea of having to keep taking something, you might consider: Psychedelics: Yes Even Once? ← since a single dose can have a lasting (positive!) effect on cognitive flexibility
Want to learn more?
You might like this book we reviewed a little while ago:
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How a sense of awe can be good for your mental health
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Words escape you. Your skin tingles. You are overwhelmed by how small and insignificant you really are, bursting with a feeling that is hard to define. This is awe.
Awe is a complex emotional state we experience when the enormity of what we see or feel transcends what we understand. It can be positive or negative.
Astronauts report this feeling when confronted with the vastness of space and Earth’s puny place within it. This experience – sometimes known as the “overview effect” – can change forever how people who’ve seen Earth from afar think about life here.
But you don’t have to travel to the moon and back to experience awe. Beautiful art, a walk in nature or dancing in a crowd can give you this overwhelming, transcendent feeling.
Neuroscience suggests experiences of awe can be good for your mental health – when they’re positive. So, when is awe good for us? And what exactly is going on in the brain?
Arnaud Mesureur/Unsplash Awe can be both positive and negative
Positive awe is what probably comes to mind when most people think of awe. If you’ve ever been moved by something immense and beautiful – such as a majestic mountain or sunset – you’ve likely experienced this sense of calm and wonder.
However, psychologists sometimes describe awe as an experience at the boundary of pleasure and fear. Both pleasure and fear can result in similar bodily arousal – racing heartbeat, goosebumps and chills – but the way we interpret this as an emotion will depend on the context. It can be the same when we experience something vast and overwhelming.
Negative awe may occur when we feel threatened or a lack of control, such as during an earthquake or terrorist attack.
Imagine standing in front of a tsunami and seeing it come towards you. You may feel powerless and filled with dread, while also overcome with a sense of insignificance in the face of nature’s majesty and power. This is the complexity of awe.
Trying to make sense of the unexpected
Our brains are constantly making predictions and integrating our experiences into what we already know.
We tend to “filter out” sensory signals that match our expectations, to instead focus on being ready to respond to information that is surprising.
New information is processed by parts of the brain that help to fit it within our pre-existing understanding of the world, knowledge frameworks known as schemata (or schemas).
According to schema theory, we either assimilate this new information into an existing schema, or have to change the schema to fit the new knowledge.
Not all new experiences will evoke awe. It occurs when we experience both the inability to assimilate an experience into current knowledge and a sense of vastness.
For example, you might have a schema for “waterfall” – a mental framework of what you expect (rocks, water, beautiful). But confronted by the roar of Victoria Falls, its size and velocity, the way the sun hits the spray, you experience awe; it’s unlike any waterfall you have ever seen and is beyond your expectations.
Awe can make us feel small and insignificant in the face of something immense. byronetmedia/unsplash What happens in the brain when we experience awe?
When we feel awe, activity decreases in the brain regions associated with internal or self-referential processing. This network is what drives our memory and understanding of our place in the world.
When activity in these regions decreases, there is a shift away from yourself towards processing external information. This may explain why you tend to “feel small” when you experience awe.
But positive and negative awe may have different effects on our nervous system.
Negative awe is associated with sympathetic nervous system activity, which drives our “fight or flight” response.
Positive awe, however, is associated with increased parasympathetic activity. This reduces heart rate and arousal, which is why we may feel calmer.
How awe can be good for us
If you’re someone who seeks out experiences bigger than yourself – hiking for breathtaking views, enjoying meditation, art or losing yourself in the roar of a crowd – you probably already know awe can make you feel fantastic.
Now, research is exploring why. Emerging evidence suggests awe may be good for mental health and wellbeing in five ways:
- improving your nervous system’s ability to relax
- diminishing self-focus
- making us more likely to help other people
- connecting us to others
- increasing sense of meaning.
More work needs to be done before we can say whether awe results in long-lasting benefits. But purposefully seeking awe may help you feel less stressed, more satisfied and happier.
Sharing awe-filled experiences can help us transcend ourselves and connect with others. Danny Howe/Unsplash Finding awe in the everyday
What evokes awe will likely be different for different people. But we know some things are more likely to induce this complex feeling, such as experiences of art, music and natural environments that move us.
Many people also find awe in collective experiences, especially those involving shared music or movement, or religious rituals. These help us transcend ourselves and become part of something bigger. Contemplating inspiring and complex “big” intellectual ideas by learning something new may also have this effect.
So, can you actively cultivate awe? One way to start is by taking “awe walks”. These involve walking with the intention of noticing beauty, vastness and wonder. Connecting with your own sense of spirituality – even if you are not religious – can also evoke awe.
In many cases, the vast and overwhelming experience of awe can start with simple acts of noticing.
Nikki-Anne Wilson, Lecturer, School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney; Neuroscience Research Australia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Dangers Of Root Canals And Crowns, & What To Do Instead
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Dr. Michelle Jorgensen, a dentist, tells us that it’s a lot rarer than people think to actually need a crown or a root canal; there are ways of avoiding such:
The tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth?
First, some of the problems with the treatments that are most popular, especially in the US:
Problems with root canals:
- Involves cleaning and filling the tooth’s main canal but leaves microtubules that can harbor dead tissue and attract bacteria.
- This can lead to infections, often undetected for a long time due to the nerve removal, potentially harming overall health and weakening the tooth.
- Root canals often result in brittle teeth that can break, necessitating crowns.
And then…
Problems with crowns:
- A crown requires significant removal of tooth structure (up to 1.5 mm of enamel), making the tooth more vulnerable and sensitive.
- Crowns can also lead to new cavities underneath due to weak bonding to dentin.
- The cycle often leads from a healthy tooth to fillings, crowns, root canals, and eventual extraction (and then, perhaps, an implant in its place). That’s great for the dentist, but not so great for you.
Biomimetic dentistry the exciting name currently being used for what has been more prosaically called “conservative restorative dentistry”, which in turn has also been known by other names in recent decades, and its goal is to strengthen and preserve natural teeth as much as possible.
Methods it uses:
- Treats affected but still living teeth with non-invasive procedures.
- Uses ozone treatment to kill bacteria in deep cavities, avoiding direct nerve exposure.
- Applies conservative partial restorations like onlays instead of full crowns.
Benefits of this approach:
- Preserves enamel, minimizes trauma, and reduces the risk of tooth death.
- Maintains long-term tooth structure and health.
- 95% success rate in saving affected teeth without resorting to root canals.
In short, Dr. Jorgensen says that 60–80% of traditional crowns and root canals can be avoided. Which is surely a good thing.
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:
Tooth Remineralization: How To Heal Your Teeth Naturally
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