Gooseberries vs Limes – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing gooseberries to limes, we picked the gooseberries.
Why?
It wasn’t close:
In terms of macros, gooseberries have nearly 2x the fiber for the same carbs and protein, scoring an easy first-round win.
In the category of vitamins, gooseberries have more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, and E, while limes have more vitamin B9. They’re equal in other vitamins they both contain, including vitamin C. So this one’s a win for gooseberries too.
Looking at minerals, gooseberries have more copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while limes have more calcium and iron, meaning another rather one-sided win for gooseberries.
In other considerations, gooseberries also have more polyphenols, so that’s another point in their favor.
Adding up the sections makes for an overwhelming overall win for gooseberries, but by all means enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Enjoy!
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Crawl Daily To Stay Young!
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On a scale of “can get up off the floor without using one’s hands” to “winning breakdancing competitions”, crawling is somewhere in the middle in terms of mobility.
Since the former is a critical predictor of healthy longevity (and the latter is not too important for most of us), crawling means we stay well within the mobility “safe zone”.
Which, after all, is where we need to be. But how? Will any kind of crawling do it? How much do we need to crawl?
Foundational moves
For the most part, modern adults have lost the ability to move naturally on the ground, and this omission accelerates physical aging when it comes to loss of mobility.
However, we not be motivated only by fear of loss of movement, there are positive gains to be made too; Vanja (in the video) lists the following benefits, and we have some thoughts on them too:
- Improves hip, ankle, and shoulder mobility
- This one’s quite self-explanatory; these are commonly-lost things with big impacts!
- Builds wrist and core strength through weight-bearing positions
- Grip strength is very strongly inversely correlated with frailty in older age
- Trains lateral movement and cross-body coordination
- This may seem like something that only a gym-bunny might care about, but this also means “don’t put your back out while putting the groceries away”
- Improves spinal mobility and reflexes
- This way you also don’t put your back out while, for example, reflexively catching a falling object
- Boosts agility, stability, and athletic carryover
- Be the kind of person who doesn’t “have a fall” and see a rapid decline of health thereafter
- Creates (well-founded) confidence due to learning to fall safely
- Meaning that if you do fall, you can laugh it off instead of getting an ambulance ride
Now, on to how to do it. Of course, we’re sure you know the basics of how to crawl, but to get a full range of motion, consider adding:
- Forward crab: builds hip flexion, ankle mobility, wrist and shoulder integrity, and resilience.
- Side crab: strengthens obliques and hips, improves knee stability, and restores lateral agility.
- Quadrupedal walk: reconnects opposite hand and foot coordination, enhances spinal mobility, and builds total-body endurance.
- Forward scoot: trains shoulder extension, posterior chain activation, and core synchronization.
- Sideways scoot: develops lateral hip and oblique strength, and dynamic shoulder stability.
- Handstand kick-up: builds balance, shoulder extension, proprioception, and resilience under inversion ← ok, this one’s a bit more advanced, but when was the last time you did a handstand, and don’t you want to enjoy some of that youthfulness still?
Writer’s anecdote: the last time I did a handstand was about a year ago; I was writing an article for 10almonds, and wondered if I could do a handstand, just against the wall. So, I tried, and the good news is, I could! The bad news is, I was wearing a dress, the dress of course fell promptly around my head, I couldn’t see where to safely return to the ground normally (so many bookcases in this room), so I had to crumple directly downwards instead, laughing at my lack of foresight :p
For more on all of this (apart from my antics) plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Mobility For Now & For Later: Train For The Marathon That Is Your Life!
Take care!
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- Improves hip, ankle, and shoulder mobility
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The Compass of Pleasure – by Dr. David Linden
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There are a lot of books about addiction, so what sets this one apart?
Mostly, it’s that this one maintains that addiction is neither good nor bad per se—just, some behaviors and circumstances are. Behaviors and circumstances caused, directly or indirectly, by addiction.
But, Dr. Linden argues, not every addiction has to be so. Especially behavioral addictions; the rush of dopamine one gets from a good session at the gym or learning a new language, that’s not a bad thing, even if they can fundamentally be addictions too.
Similarly, we wouldn’t be here as a species without some things that rely on some of the same biochemistry as addictions; orgasms and eating food, for example. Yet, those very same urges can also inconvenience us, and in the case of foods and other substances, can harm our health.
In this book, the case is made for shifting our addictive tendencies to healthier addictions, and enough information is given to help us do so.
Bottom line: if you’d like to understand what is going on when you get waylaid by some temptation, and how to be tempted to better things, this book can give the understanding to do just that.
Click here to check out The Compass of Pleasure, and make yours work in your favor!
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Beetroot vs Zucchini – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing beetroot to zucchini, we picked the beetroot.
Why?
Both have their strong virtues! But…
In terms of macros, beetroot has more fiber, carbs, and protein, winning in this round.
In the category of vitamins, beetroot has more vitamin B9, while zucchini has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, C, E, K, and choline, winning easily.
Looking at minerals; this imbalance gets flipped: beetroot has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while zucchini is not higher in any minerals; a total win here for beetroot.
In other considerations, beetroot has more polyphenols, especially quercetin, and beetroot’s other phytochemical benefits are so numerous we’ll not list them here, and just recommend checking out the link below!
Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for beetroot, but zucchini were much stronger in the vitamin category, so by all means enjoy either or both; diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Beetroot For More Than Just Your Blood Pressure ← more beetroot benefits
Enjoy!
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Calculate (And Enjoy) The Perfect Night’s Sleep
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This is Dr. Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and sleep specialist, and he wants you to get a good night’s sleep, every night.
First, let’s assume you know a lot of good advice about how to do that already in terms of environment and preparation, etc. If you want a recap before proceeding, then we recommend:
Get Better Sleep: Beyond The Basics
Now, what does he want to add?
Wake up refreshed
Of course, how obtainable this is will depend on the previous night’s sleep, but there is something important we can do here regardless, and it’s: beat sleep inertia.
Sleep inertia is what happens when we wake up groggy (for reasons other than being ill, drugged, etc) rather than refreshed. It’s not actually related to how much sleep we have, though!
Rather, it pertains to whether we woke up during a sleep cycle, or between cycles:
- If we wake up between sleep cycles, we’ll avoid sleep inertia.
- If we wake up during a sleep cycle, we’ll be groggy.
Deep sleep generally occurs in 90-minute blocks, albeit secretly that is generally 3× 20 minute blocks in a trenchcoat, with transition periods between, during which the brainwaves change frequency.
REM sleep generally occurs in 20 minute blocks, and will usually arrive in series towards the end of our natural sleep period, to fit neatly into the last 90-minute cycle.
Sometimes these will appear a little out of order, because we are complicated organic beings, but those are the general trends.
In any case, the take-away here is: interrupt them at your peril. You need to wake up between cycles. There are two ways you can do this:
- Carefully calculate everything, and set a very precise alarm clock (this will work so long as you are correct in guessing how long it will take you to fall asleep)
- Use a “sunrise” lamp alarm clock, that in the hour approaching your set alarm time, will gradually increase the light. Because the body will not naturally wake up during a cycle unless a threat is perceived (loud noise, physical rousing, etc), the sunrise lamp method means that you will wake up between sleep cycles at some point during that hour (towards the beginning or end, depending on what your sleep balance/debt is like).
Do not sleep in (even if you have a sleep debt); it will throw everything out.
Caffeine will not help much in the morning
Assuming you got a reasonable night’s sleep, your brain has been cleansed of adenosine (a sleepy chemical), and if you are suffering from sleep inertia, the grogginess is due to melatonin (a different sleepy chemical).
Caffeine is an adenosine receptor blocker, so that will do nothing to mitigate the effects of melatonin in your brain that doesn’t have any meaningful quantity of adenosine in it in the morning.
Adenosine gradually accumulates in the brain over the course of the day (and then gets washed out while we sleep), so if you’re sleepy in the afternoon (for reasons other than: you just had a nap and now have sleep inertia again), then caffeine can block that adenosine in the afternoon.
Of course, caffeine is also a stimulant (it increases adrenaline levels and promotes vasoconstriction), but its effects at healthily small doses are modest for most people, and you’d do better by splashing cold water on your face and/or listening to some upbeat music.
Learn more: The Two Sides Of Caffeine
Time your naps correctly (if you take naps)
Dr. Breus has a lot to say about this, based on a lot of clinical research, but as it’s entirely consistent with what we’ve written before (based on the exact same research), to save space we’ll link to that here:
How To Be An Expert Nap-Artist (With No “Sleep-Hangovers”)
Calculate your bedtime correctly
Remember what we said about sleep cycles? This means that that famous “7–9 hours sleep” is actually “either 7½ or 9 hours sleep”—because those are multiples of 90 minutes, whereas 8 hours (for example) is not.
So, consider the time you want to get up (ideally, this should be relatively early, and the same time every day), and then count backwards either 7½ or 9 hours sleep (you choose), add 20–30 minutes to fall asleep, and that’s your bedtime.
So for example: if you want to have 7½ hours sleep and get up at 6am, then your bedtime is anywhere between 10pm and 10:10pm.
Remember how we said not to sleep in, even if you have a sleep debt? Now is the time to pay it off, if you have one. If you normally sleep 7½ hours, then make tonight a 9-hour sleep (plus 20–30 minutes to fall asleep). This means you’ll still get up at 6am, but your bedtime is now anywhere between 8:30pm and 8:40pm.
Want to know more from Dr. Breus?
You might like this excellent book of his that we reviewed a while back:
The Power of When – by Dr. Michael Breus
Enjoy!
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8 Signs Of Hypothyroidism Beyond Tiredness & Weight Gain
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When it comes to hypothyroidism, most people know to look out for tiredness and weight gain, and possibly menstrual disturbances in those who menstruate. But those symptoms could be caused by very many things, so what more specific signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism should we look out for?
Dr. James O’Donovan shows us in this short video:
The lesser-known signs
Dr. O’Donovan discusses:
- Asteatotic eczema (also called: eczema craquelé): dry, cracked skin with a “crazy paving” appearance, leading to fissures. It’s common on the lower legs, back, torso, and arms, especially in older patients and especially in winter.
- Cold peripheries with pale, dry, coarse skin: cold hands and feet, along with dryness due to decreased sweating; these invariably come together, though the exact link is unclear.
- Yellowish hue to the skin (carotenoderma): yellow-orange discoloration from elevated beta-carotene levels. This can easily be mistaken for jaundice and also occurs in diabetes, liver, and kidney diseases.
- Thin, brittle hair: the hair on one’s head may become dry, coarse, and fall out in handfuls.
- Loss of hair on the outer third of eyebrows: thinning or disappearance of hair in this very specific area.
- Slow-growing, rigid, brittle nails: slowed nail growth due to decreased cell turnover rate. Ridges may form as keratin cells accumulate.
- Myxedema: puffy face, eyelids, legs, and feet caused by tissue swelling from cutaneous deposition.
- Delayed wound healing: is what it sounds like; a slower healing process.
10almonds note: this video, like much of medical literature as well, does focus on what things are like for white people. Black people with hypothyroidism are more likely to see a lightening of hair pigmentation, and, in contrast, hyperpigmentation of the skin, usually in patches. We couldn’t find data for other ethnicities or skintones, but it does seem that most of the signs and symptoms (unrelated to pigmentation) should be the same for most people.
Meanwhile, for more on the above 8 signs, with visuals, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
The Three Rs To Boost Thyroid-Related Energy Levels
Take care!
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Breakfasting For Health?
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Breakfast Time!
In yesterday’s newsletter, we asked you for your health-related opinions on the timings of meals.
But what does the science say?
Quick recap on intermittent fasting first:
Today’s article will rely somewhat on at least a basic knowledge of intermittent fasting, what it is, and how and why it works.
Armed with that knowledge, we can look at when it is good to break the fast (i.e. breakfast) and when it is good to begin the fast (i.e. eat the last meal of the day).
So, if you’d like a quick refresher on intermittent fasting, here it is:
Intermittent Fasting: We Sort The Science From The Hype
And now, onwards!
One should eat breakfast first thing: True or False?
True! Give or take one’s definition of “first thing”. We did a main feature about this previously, and you can read a lot about the science of it, and see links to studies:
The Circadian Rhythm: Far More Than Most People Know
In case you don’t have time to read that now, we’ll summarize the most relevant-to-today’s-article conclusion:
The optimal time to breakfast is around 10am (this is based on getting sunlight around 8:30am, so adjust if this is different for you)
It doesn’t matter when we eat; calories are calories & nutrients are nutrients: True or False?
Broadly False, for practical purposes. Because, indeed calories are calories and nutrients are nutrients at any hour, but the body will do different things with them depending on where we are in the circadian cycle.
For example, this study in the Journal of Nutrition found…
❝Our results suggest that in relatively healthy adults, eating less frequently, no snacking, consuming breakfast, and eating the largest meal in the morning may be effective methods for preventing long-term weight gain.
Eating breakfast and lunch 5-6 h apart and making the overnight fast last 18-19 h may be a useful practical strategy.❞
Read in full: Meal Frequency and Timing Are Associated with Changes in Body Mass Index
We should avoid eating too late at night: True or False?
False per se, True in the context of the above. Allow us to clarify:
There is nothing inherently bad about eating late at night; there is no “bonus calorie happy hour” before bed.
However…
If we are eating late at night, that makes it difficult to breakfast in the morning (as is ideal) and still maintain a >16hr fasting window as is optimal, per:
❝the effects of the main forms of fasting, activating the metabolic switch from glucose to fat and ketones (G-to-K), starting 12-16 h after cessation or strong reduction of food intake❞
~ Dr. Françoise Wilhelmi de Toledo et al.
So in other words: since the benefits of intermittent fasting start at 12 hours into the fast, you’re not going to get them if you’re breakfasting at 10am and also eating in the evening.
Summary:
- It is best to eat breakfast around 10am, generally (ideally after some sunlight and exercise)
- While there’s nothing wrong with eating in the evening per se, doing so means that a 10am breakfast will eliminate any fasting benefits you might otherwise get
- If a “one meal a day, and that meal is breakfast” lifestyle doesn’t suit you, then one possible good compromise is to have a large breakfast, and then a smaller meal in the late afternoon / early evening.
One last tip: the above is good, science-based information. Use it (or don’t), as you see fit. We’re not the boss of you:
- Maybe you care most about getting the best circadian rhythm benefits, in which case, prioritizing breakfast being a) in the morning and b) the largest meal of the day, is key
- Maybe you care most about getting the best intermittent fasting benefits, in which case, for many people’s lifestyle, a fine option is skipping eating in the morning, and having one meal in the late afternoon / early evening.
Take care!
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