Habits of a Happy Brain – by Dr. Loretta Graziano Breuning
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There are lots of books on “happy chemicals” and “how to retrain your brain”, so what makes this one different?
Firstly, it focuses on four “happy chemicals”, not just one:
- Serotonin
- Dopamine
- Oxytocin
- Endorphins
It also looks at the role of cortisol, and how it caps off each of those just a little bit, to keep us just a little malcontent.
Behavioral psychology tends to focus most on dopamine, while prescription pharmaceuticals for happiness (i.e., most antidepressants) tend to focus on serotonin. Here, Dr. Breuning helps us understand the complex interplay of all of the aforementioned chemicals.
She also clears up many misconceptions, since a lot of people misattribute the functions of each of these.
Common examples include “I’m doing this for the serotonin!” when the activity is dopaminergic not serotoninergic, or considering dopamine “the love molecule” when oxytocin, or even something else like phenylethylamine would be more appropriate.
The above may seem like academic quibbles and not something of practical use, but if we want to biohack our brains, we need to do better than the equivalent of a chef who doesn’t know the difference between salt and sugar.
Where things are of less practical use, she tends to skip over or at least streamline them. For example, she doesn’t really discuss the role of post-dopamine prolactin in men—but the discussion of post-happiness cortisol covers the same ground anyway, for practical purposes.
Dr. Breuning also looks at where our evolved neurochemical responses go wrong, and lays out guidelines for such challenges as overcoming addiction, or embracing delayed gratification.
Bottom line: this book is a great user-manual for the brain. If you’d like to be happier and more effective with fewer bad habits, this is the book for you.
Click here to check out Habits of a Happy Brain, and get biohacking yours!
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Why 1 In 4 Women On HRT Are Still Losing Bone (And How To Know If You’re One)
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Dr. Doug Weiss gets down to the bones of it:
Personalization matters
When it comes to HRT and bone density, average improvements can be misleading because some women gain bone density while others continue to lose it, even when receiving the same estrogen dose.
However, it doesn’t all have to be guesswork: one study cited in the video found that women whose CTX levels fell by about 33% were approximately 87% likely to experience an increase in bone mineral density, suggesting that bone turnover markers can serve as early indicators of whether estrogen therapy is likely to improve bone health.
With this and other such results in mind, Dr. Weiss argues that CTX reflects bone breakdown, P1NP reflects bone formation, and measuring both provides a much faster way to assess whether a bone-health intervention is working than waiting 12–24 months or longer for changes on a DEXA scan; he uses a P1NP-to-CTX ratio target of approximately 150 as a marker of favorable bone metabolism.
While he doesn’t consider up-front testing to be especially important (because people can respond to treatments very differently, so while it’s an interesting baseline, an initial test result is not useable information yet), he advocates measuring estradiol, FSH, CTX, and P1NP after treatment begins and adjusting therapy based on individual results rather than relying on standardized dosing.
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:
The HRT That Prevents Osteoporosis Without Side Effects
Take care!
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Overcoming Poor Posture – by Steven Low & Jarlo Ilano
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We’ve previously reviewed the first-named author’s excellent “Overcoming Gravity”, and this time the gymnast-physiotherapist is back with another physio, to deliver us a guide to overcoming poor posture.
They start (after the introductory material you’d expect of any such work) with an examination of the connection between posture and pain, because let’s face it, for most people this is what’s most important.
The authors also do not expect that we live in a world whereby we can devote a lot of time to dedicated postural practice, so they also cover posture in real life, and practical steps to improve posture in the 23.5 (or more) hours per day that you’re mostly not thinking about it.
Which prompts the question: how do we make the change to our regular posture, when indeed we are mostly not thinking about it, and are not likely to start devoting most of our waking thoughts to it? So, again being mindful residents of the real world, the authors also bring us chapters on changing our habits, and redoing our programming, to overcome poor posture in an actually sustainable and thus meaningful fashion.
There are of course specific exercises to do too, but even there, advice is given on how to select those that are most relevant to you, your life, and your body.
Bottom line: if you’d like to be free from the pain caused by the consequences of poor posture, this book can help a lot!
Click here to check out Overcoming Poor Posture, and overcome poor posture, for good!
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The Plant-Based Athlete – by Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke
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If you’re already a seasoned plant-based athlete yourself, you can probably skip this book; the 60 recipes at the end would still provide value, but there is the “No Meat Athlete Cookbook” that you could hop straight to, in any case.
For most readers, there will be plenty of value from start to finish. We get a quick ground-up tour of nutrition basics, before getting into restructuring diet to optimize it for performance.
There is less in the way of “Vegans struggle with…” and more in the way of “People think vegans struggle with…” and explanations of what vegan athletes actually eat. The book does include science, but isn’t too science-heavy, and relies more on modelling what plant-based superathletes enjoy on a daily basis.
To that end,if the book has a weak point, it’s perhaps that it could have stood to include more science. The book comes recommended by Dr. Michael Greger, whose nutritional approach is incredibly science-heavy and well-referenced, and this book is obviously compatible with that (so they could have!), but in this case Frazier and Cheeke leave us to take their word for it.
Nevertheless, the science is good whether they cite it or not, and this book is quite a comprehensive primer of plant-based athleticism.
Bottom line: if you’re wondering how to optimize the two goals of “eating plants” and “being a powerful athlete”, then this one’s the book for you.
Click here to check out The Plant-Based Athlete and upgrade your health and athletic performance!
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Banana vs Dates – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing bananas to dates, we picked the dates
Why?
Both are great, but there was a clear winner! We pitted these two against each other as they’re both sweet fruits often used as a sweetening and consistency-altering ingredient in desserts and sweet snacks, so if you’re making a choice between them, here are the things to consider:
In terms of macros, dates have more than 3x the fiber, more than 2x the protein, and a little over 3x the carbs. You may be wondering how this adds up in terms of glycemic index: dates have the lower GI. So, we pick dates, here, for that reason and overall nutritional density too.
In the category of vitmains, bananas have more of vitamins A, B6, C, and E, while dates have more of vitamins B1, B3, B5, B7, and K making for a marginal victory for dates in this round.
Looking at minerals next, however, it’s quite one-sided: bananas are not higher in any minerals (no, not even potassium, for which they are famous—dates have nearly 2x more potassium than bananas), while dates have more dates have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium (as mentioned), selenium, and zinc. So, an overwhelming win for dates here.
Adding up the sections makes for a very clear overall win for dates, but by all means do enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
From Apples to Bees, and High-Fructose Cs: Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same?
Enjoy!
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Burn! How To Boost Your Metabolism
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Let’s burn! Metabolic tweaks and hacks
Our metabolism is, for as long as we live, a constantly moving thing. And it’s not a monolith either; there are parts of our metabolism that can speed up or slow down independently of others.
If we talk about metabolism without clarifying context, though, this is usually about one’s “basal metabolic rate”, that is, how many calories we burn just by being alive.
Why do we want to speed it up? Might we ever want to slow it down?
We might want to slow our metabolism down in survival circumstances, but generally speaking, a faster metabolism is a better one.
Yes, even when it comes to aging. Because although metabolism comes with metabolizing oxygen (which, ironically, tends to kill us eventually, since this is a key part of cellular aging), it is still beneficial to replace cells sooner rather than later. The later we replace a given cell (ie, the longer the cell lives), the more damaged it gets, and then the copy is damaged from the start, because the damage was copied along with it. So, best to have a fast metabolism to replace cells quickly when they are young and healthy.
A quick metabolism helps the body to do this.
Most people, of course, are interested in a fast metabolism to burn off fat, but beware: if you increase your metabolism without consideration to how and when you consume calories, you will simply end up eating more to compensate.
One final quick note before we begin:
Limitations
There’s a lot we can do to change our metabolism, but there are some things that may be outside of our control. They include:
- Age—we can influence our biological age, but we cannot (yet!) halt aging, so this will happen
- Body size—and yes we can change this a bit, but we all have our own “basic frame” to work with. Someone who is 6’6” is never going to be able to have the same lower-end-of-scale body mass of someone who is 5’0”, say.
- Sex—this is about hormones, and HRT is a thing, but for example, broadly speaking, men will have faster metabolisms than women, because of hormonal differences.
- Medical conditions—often also related to other hormones, but for example someone with Type 1 Diabetes is going to have a very different relationship with their metabolism than someone without, and someone with a hypo- or hyperactive thyroid will again have a very different metabolism in a way that that lifestyle factors can’t completely compensate for.
The tips and tricks
Intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting has been found to, amongst other things, promote healthy apoptosis and autophagy (in other words: early programmed cell death and recycling—these are good things).
It also has anti-inflammatory benefits and decreases the risk of insulin resistance. In other words, intermittent fasting boosts the metabolism while simultaneously guarding against some of the dangers of a faster metabolism (harms you’d get if you instead increased your metabolism by doing intense exercise and then eating a mountain of convenience food to compensate)
Read the science: Intermittent Fasting: Is the Wait Worth the Weight?
Read our prior article: Fasting Without Crashing? We Sort The Science From The Hype
Enjoy plenty of protein
This one won’t speed your metabolism up, so much as help it avoid slowing down as a result of fat loss.
Because of our body’s marvelous homeostatic system trying to keep our body from changing status at any given time, often when we lose fat, our body drops our metabolism to compensate, thinking we are in an ongoing survival situation and food is scarce so we’d better conserve energy (as fat). That’s a pain for would-be weight-loss dieters!
Eating protein can let our body know that we’re perfectly safe and not starving, so it will keep the metabolism ticking over nicely, without putting on fat.
Read the science: The role of protein in weight loss and maintenance
Stay hydrated
People think of drinking water as part of a weight loss program being just about filling oneself up, and that is a thing, but it also has a role to play in our metabolism. Specifically, lipolysis (the process of removing fat).
Because, we are mostly water. Not only is it the main content of our various body tissue cells, but also, of particular note, our blood (the means by which everything is transported around our body) is mostly water, too.
It’s hard for the body to keep everything ticking over like a well-oiled machine if its means of transportation is sluggish!
Check it out: Increased Hydration Can Be Associated with Weight Loss
Take a stand
That basal metabolic rate we talked about?
- If you’re lying down at rest, that’s what your metabolism will be like.
- If you’re sitting up, it’ll be a little quicker, but not much.
- If you’re standing, suddenly half your body is doing things, and you don’t even notice them because they’re just stabilizing muscles and the like, but on a cellular level, your body gets very busy.
Read all about it: Cardiometabolic impact of changing sitting, standing, and stepping in the workplace
Time to invest in a standing desk? Or a treadmill in front of the TV?
The spice of life
Capsaicin, the compound in many kinds of pepper that give them their spicy flavor, boosts the metabolism. In the words of Tremblay et al for the International Journal of Obesity:
❝[Capsaicin] stimulates the sympathoadrenal system that mediates the thermogenic and anorexigenic effects of capsaicinoids.
Capsaicinoids have been found to accentuate the impact of caloric restriction on body weight loss.
Some studies have also shown that capsinoids increase energy expenditure.
Capsaicin supplementation attenuates or even prevents the increase in hunger and decrease in fullness as well as the decrease in energy expenditure and fat oxidation, which normally result from energy restriction❞
Read for yourself: Capsaicinoids: a spicy solution to the management of obesity?
You snooze, you lose (fat)
While exercising is generally touted as the road to weight loss, and certainly regular exercise does have a part to play, doing so without good rest will have bad results.
In fact, even if you’re not exercising, if you don’t get enough sleep your metabolism will get sluggish to try to slow you down and encourage you to sleep.
So, be proactive, and make getting enough good quality sleep a priority.
Eat for metabolic health
Aside from the chilli peppers we mentioned, there are other foods associated with good metabolic health. We don’t have room to go into the science of each of them here, but here’s a well-researched, well-sourced standalone article listing some top choices:
The 12 Best Foods to Boost Your Metabolism
Enjoy!
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How to handle teen ‘big feelings’ as the social media ban kicks in
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Watching your teenager grieve the loss of their social media account can be confronting. Many are genuinely distressed or struggling with the change, and many parents are unsure how to respond.
Australia’s social media ban, which started this week, means teens under the age of 16, have lost accounts to platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
These are the platforms they relied on to talk to friends, find support, follow interests, or decompress after school.
While some teens feel relieved or not fussed, many are feeling sad, worried, powerless, helpless, disappointed or angry.
These aren’t signs of entitlement. They’re signs your teen may need support. https://www.youtube.com/embed/u4KrMG6H0zg?wmode=transparent&start=0 A mixed bag: here’s what more than 17,000 teenagers think of the ban.
Maskot/Getty Why losing social media hits some teens hard
There’s a neurological reason why the loss of social media can hit teens so hard.
Adolescence is a period of enormous social, neurological and emotional change. Teen brains are wired for peer connection, and their brains become more sensitive to feedback from their peers. Meanwhile the brain regions responsible for impulse control, managing strong emotions and long-term planning are still developing.
When teens say losing social media feels like being “cut off”, they aren’t being dramatic. Their neurological systems are reacting to a loss of social reinforcement.
Connect and validate their feelings
If your teen is upset, the instinct might be to justify the government’s decision or to explain why life offline is healthier. However, advice lands badly when a young person feels unheard. Teens often perceive even well-meaning advice as criticism.
Accepting their feelings about the changes helps validate their experience. You can say:
Feeling angry or sad makes total sense. I know you used those sites to stay connected with your friends.
Losing your account feels huge. It’s a big change to deal with.
Then pause and listen.
Or you can sit with them without saying much. Some teens prefer parents to just listen sympathetically.
Supporting your teen doesn’t mean you agree with their perspective. It means you’re acknowledging their emotional reality. When teens feel understood, they become more open to talking – and eventually, to problem-solving.
The first two weeks may be the toughest. Some teens may experience grief and withdrawal-like symptoms: boredom, anxiety, irritability, restlessness and a powerful urge to “just check once”.
Help teens understand these reactions are normal. Social media platforms are designed to keep users hooked.
Understand the ‘why’ together
It might help to explore the governement’s concerns about social media with your teen – but not as a lecture. The ban isn’t about social media being inherently bad, but about how platforms are designed.
You can talk about algorithms maximising engagement using the same mechanisms as gambling to encourage dependence and addiction. Or you can talk about how feeds are personalised to keep users scrolling for longer.
Ask your teen what they think about these concerns. This isn’t about convincing them the ban is right, but developing their awareness of how digital platforms work. This prepares them for use when they’re older.
Help teens rebuild what social media gave them
To support your teen, it helps to understand the function social media played in their life. Was it to:
- connect with friends?
- find community around a niche interest or identity?
- share creative work, or find outlets for self-expression?
- de-stress after a busy day?
- know what others are talking about?
Once you understand this, you can help them find alternatives that genuinely meet their needs. They might be able to maintain:
- connection by organising a get-together, make FaceTime calls, join clubs, or have group chats on allowed platforms
- creativity by finding other outlets such as photography, video-making, music, writing, art, or gaming communities with safe age settings
- relaxation by reading, exercise, podcasts, nature time, shows you can watch together.
Many teens won’t immediately know what they want to try. They may need time and space to have their feelings first. Once they are ready, inviting them to brainstorm a few options (without pressuring them) can help.
Problem-solve together, notice efforts
Once emotions settle, gently shift to collaborative problem-solving. You can ask:
What’s been the hardest part this week?
How could we help you stay connected in ways that are allowed?
What would make this change even a tiny bit easier?
Let your teen lead. Young people are much more likely to follow through on strategies they helped design.
Even small signs of coping deserve acknowledgement. You can say:
I can see you’ve been finding other ways to talk to friends. That takes maturity.
I’m proud of how open you’ve been about how you’re feeling.
But if something doesn’t work, treat it like an experiment. You can say:
OK, that didn’t help as much as we hoped. What else could we try?
Check in later
For teens, losing social media isn’t simply losing an app. It can feel like losing a community, a creative outlet, or a place where they felt understood.
Keep an eye out and offer opportunities to check in with how they are going. This ensures teens don’t navigate this transition alone or become secretive – and that your relationship remains a source of support.
The eSafety Commissioner website explains why the rules were brought in and how they will work; youth mental health service headspace has seven tips for navigating the social media ban; the Raising Children’s website explains how teens use technology for entertainment; tips for digital wellness and how to draw up a “contract” for use of a child’s first phone are also available.
Christiane Kehoe, Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Elizabeth Westrupp, Associate Professor in Psychology, Deakin University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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