Getting to Neutral – by Trevor Moawad
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We all know that a pessimistic outlook is self-defeating… And yet, toxic positivity can also be a set-up for failure! At some point, reckless faith in the kindly nature of the universe will get crushed, badly. Sometimes that point is a low point in life… sometimes it’s six times a day. But one thing’s for sure: we can’t “just decide everything will go great!” because the world just doesn’t work that way.
That’s where Trevor Moawad comes in. “Getting to neutral” is not a popular selling point. Everyone wants joy, abundance, and high after high. And neutrality itself is often associated with boredom and soullessness. But, Moawad argues, it doesn’t have to be that way.
This book’s goal—which it accomplishes well—is to provide a framework for being a genuine realist. What does that mean?
“I’m not a pessimist; I’m a realist” – every pessimist ever.
^Not that. That’s not what it means. What it means instead is:
- Hope for the best
- Prepare for the worst
- Adapt as you go
…taking care to use past experiences to inform future decisions, but without falling into the trap of thinking that because something happened a certain way before, it always will in the future.
To be rational, in short. Consciously and actively rational.
Feel the highs! Feel the lows! But keep your baseline when actually making decisions.
Bottom line: this book is as much an antidote to pessimism and self-defeat, as it is to reckless optimism and resultant fragility. Highly recommendable.
Click here to check out “Getting to Neutral” and start creating your best, most reason-based life!
PS: in this book, Moawad draws heavily from his own experiences of battling adversity in the form of cancer—of which he died, before this book’s publication. A poignant reminder that he was right: we won’t always get the most positive outcome of any given situation, so what matters the most is making the best use of the time we have.
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No Equipment Muscle Gain Routine for Ages 50+
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Sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass commonly associated with aging, can be a big problem as it leaves us vulnerable to injury (and also isn’t great for the metabolism—keeping adequate muscle mass ensures keeping the metabolism ticking over nicely). Will Harlow, over-50s specialist physiotherapist, is here to share a routine that works without weights:
Where it counts
There’s a fair amount of emphasis here on the lower body and core. That’s because in practical terms, this is what matters more for our health than having bulging biceps:
- First exercise: donkey calf raises to build strength in the calves using a chair.
- Second exercise: single-leg elevated lunge to work the quads and glutes, using a step or books for elevation.
- Third exercise: slow sit-to-stand for quads, glutes, and core strength, focusing on a slow descent.
- Fourth exercise: wall press-up to strengthen the chest, shoulders, and arms, with a variation using towels for increased resistance.
- Final exercise: shoulder raises using bottles or similar weights to target the shoulders and rotator cuffs.
Ok, so that last one was a slight cheat on his part as it does require grabbing a weight, but it’s not specialist equipment at least, and can just be something you grabbed at home. It’s also the least important of the five exercises, and can be skipped if necessary.
For more on all of these plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
Take care!
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Health Benefits Of Cranberries (But: You’d Better Watch Out)
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Health Benefits Of Cranberries (But: You’d Better Watch Out)
Quick clarification first: today we’re going to be talking about cranberries. Not “cranberry juice drink” that is loaded with sugar, nor “cranberry jelly” or similar that is more added sugar than it is cranberry.
We’re going to keep this short today, because “eat berries” is probably something you know already, but there are some things you should be aware of!
The benefits
Cranberries, even more than most berries, are full of polyphenols and flavonoids that do “those three things that usually come together”: antioxidant properties, anti-inflammatory properties, and anti-cancer properties
Unsurprisingly, this also means they’re good for the immune system and thus quite a boon in flu season:
They’re also good for heart health:
Quick Tip: we’re giving you one study for each of these things for brevity, but if you click through on any of our PubMed study links, you’ll (almost) always see a heading “Similar articles” heading beneath it, which will (almost) always show you plenty more.
Perhaps the most popular reason people take cranberry supplements, though, is their effectiveness at prevention of urinary tract infections:
Indeed, their effectiveness is such that researchers have considered them a putative alternative to antibiotics, particularly in individuals with recurrent UTIs:
Is it safe?
Cranberries are generally considered a very healthful food. However, there are two known possible exceptions:
If you are taking warfarin, it is possible that cranberry consumption may cause additional anti-clotting effects that you don’t want.
If you are at increased risk of kidney stones, the science is currently unclear as to whether this will help or hinder:
- Influence of cranberry juice on the urinary risk factors for calcium oxalate kidney stone formation ← this one concluded “Cranberry juice has antilithogenic properties and, as such, deserves consideration as a conservative therapeutic protocol in managing calcium oxalate urolithiasis”
- Dietary supplementation with cranberry concentrate tablets may increase the risk of nephrolithiasis ← this one, as you can see, concluded the opposite
- Safety of Cranberry: Evaluation of Evidence of Kidney Stone Formation and Botanical Drug-Interactions ← this one acknowledges “contradictory data regarding the role of cranberry in kidney stone formation”
Where can I get some?
You can probably buy fresh, frozen, or dried cranberries from wherever you normally do your grocery shopping.
However, if you prefer to take it in supplement form, then here’s an example product on Amazon
Enjoy!
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Blood-Sugar-Friendly Ice Pops
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This generic food product has so many regional variant names that it’s difficult to get a universal name, but in N. America they’re also known by the genericized brand name of popsicles. Anyway, they’re usually very bad news for blood sugars, being merely frozen juice even if extra sugar wasn’t added. Today’s recipe, on the other hand, makes for a refreshing and nutrient-dense treat that won’t spike your blood glucose!
You will need
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 can (12oz/400g) coconut milk
- ½ cup yogurt with minimal additives
- 1 tbsp honey (omit if you prefer less sweetness)
- Juice of ¼ lime (increase if you prefer more sourness)
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
1) Blend everything
2) Pour into ice pop molds and freeze overnight
3) Serve at your leisure:
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:
- Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same?
- 10 Ways To Balance Blood Sugars
- Can Saturated Fats Be Healthy? ← the fats in coconut are a good source of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), which are easily broken down as a good energy source and (enjoyed in moderation) thus unlikely to cause any cardiovascular problems, as little to nothing (usually: nothing) of it will be stored.
Take care!
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Good Energy – by Dr. Casey Means
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For a book with a title like “Good Energy” and chapters such as “Bad Energy Is the Root of Disease”, this is actually a very science-based book (and there are a flock of well-known doctors saying so in the “praise for” section, too).
The premise is simple: most of our health is a matter of what our metabolism is (or isn’t) doing, and it’s not just a case of “doing more” or “doing less”. Indeed, a lot of “our” energy is expended doing bad things (such as chronic inflammation, to give an obvious example).
Dr. Means outlines about a dozen things many people do wrong, and about a dozen things we can do right, to get our body’s energy system working for us, rather than against us.
The style here is pop-science throughout, and in the category of criticism, the bibliography is offloaded to her website (we prefer to have things in our hands). However, the information here is good, clearly-presented, and usefully actionable.
Bottom line: if you ever find yourself feeling run-down and like your body is using your resources against you rather than for you, this is the book to get you out of that slump!
Click here to check out Good Energy, and get your metabolism working for you!
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16/8 Intermittent Fasting For Beginners
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Health Insider explains in super-simple fashion why and how to do Intermittent Fasting (IF), which is something that can sound complicated at first, but becomes very simple and easy once understood.
What do we need to know?
Intermittent fasting (IF) is a good, well-evidenced way to ease your body’s metabolic load, and
give your organs a chance to recover from the strain of digestion and its effects. That’s not just your gastrointestinal organs! It’s your pancreas and liver too, amongst others—this is about glucose metabolism as much as it is about digestion.This, in turn, allows your body some downtime to do its favorite thing, which is: maintenance!
This maintenance takes the form of enhanced cellular apoptosis and autophagy, helping to keep cells young and cancer-free.
In other words, with well-practised intermittent fasting, we can reduce our risk of metabolic disease (including heart disease and diabetes) as well as cancer and neurodegeneration.
You may be wondering: this sounds miraculous; what’s the catch? There are a couple:
- While fasting from food, the body’s enhanced metabolism requires more water, so you’ll need to take extra care keep on top of your hydration (this is one reason why Ramadan fasting, while healthy for most people, is not as healthy as IF—because Ramadan fasting means abstaining from water, too).
- If you are diabetic, and especially if you have Type 1 Diabetes, fasting may not be a safe option for you, since if you get a hypo in the middle of your fasting period, it’s obviously not a good idea to wait another many hours before fixing it.
Extra note on that last one: it’s easy to think “can’t I just lower my bolus insulin instead of eating?” and while superficially yes that will raise your blood sugar levels, it’s because the sugar will be sticking around in your blood, and not actually getting released into the organs that need it. So while your blood glucose monitor may say you’re fine, you will be starving your organs and if you keep it up they may suffer serious damage.
Disclaimer: our standard legal/medical disclaimer applies, and this is intended for educational purposes only; please do speak with your endocrinologist before changing anything you usually do with regard to your blood sugar maintenance.
Ok, back onto the cheerier topic at hand:
Aside from the above: for most people, IF is a remarkably healthful practice in very many ways.
For more on the science, practicalities, and things to do/avoid, enjoy this short (4:53) video:
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Want to know more?
Check out our previous main feature on this topic:
Intermittent Fasting: Mythbusting Edition
Enjoy!
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Natural Alternatives for Depression Treatment
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Questions and Answers at 10almonds
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This newsletter has been growing a lot lately, and so have the questions/requests, and we love that! 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
Natural alternatives to medication for depression?
Great question! We did a mean feature a while back, but we definitely have much more to say! We’ll do another main feature soon, but in the meantime, here’s what we previously wrote:
See: The Mental Health First-Aid That You’ll Hopefully Never Need
^This covers not just the obvious, but also why the most common advice is not helpful, and practical tips to actually make manageable steps back to wellness, on days when “literally just survive the day” is one’s default goal.
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