How To *Really* Pick Up (And Keep!) Those Habits
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The Healthiest Habit-Building
Why was that book “Atomic Habits” called that? It wasn’t just because it’s a catchy title…
Habits are—much like atoms—things that are almost imperceptibly small, yet when stacked, they make up the substance of many much larger and more obvious things, and also contain an immense amount of potential power.
About that power…
Habits are the “compound interest” of natural human life. Every action we take, every decision we make, makes our life (often imperceptibly) better or worse. But getting even just 1% better or 1% worse at something every day? That’s going to not just add up over time… It’ll actively compound over time.
Habits will snowball one way or the other, good or bad. So, we want to control that snowball so that it works for us rather than against us.
Thus, we need to choose habits that are helpful to us, rather than those that are harmful to us. Top examples include:
- Making healthy food choices rather than unhealthy ones
- Moving our body regularly rather than being sedentary
- Having a good bedtime/morning routine rather than a daily chaotic blur
- Learning constantly rather than digging into old beliefs out of habit
- Forging healthy relationships rather than isolating ourselves
We all know that to make a habit stick, we need to practice it regularly, with opinions varying on how long it takes for something to become habit. Some say 21 days; some say 66. The number isn’t the important part!
What is important
You will never get to day 66, much less will you get to day 366, if you don’t first get to day 6 (New Year’s Resolutions, anyone?).
So in the early days especially, when the habit is most likely to get dropped, it’s critical to make the habit as easy as possible to form.
That means:
- The habit should be made as pleasant as possible
- (e.g. by making modifications to it if it’s not already intrinsically pleasant)
- The habit should take under 2 minutes to do at first
- (no matter if it takes longer than 2 minutes to be useful; it’ll never be useful if you don’t first get it to stick, so make your initial commitment only 2 minutes, just to get in the habit)
- The habit should have cues to remind you
- (as it’s not habit yet, you will need to either set a reminder on your phone, or leave a visual reminder, such as your workout clothes laid out ready for you in the morning, or a bowl of fruit in plain view where you spend a lot of time)
What gets measured, gets done
Streaks are a great way to do this. Habit-tracking apps help. Marks on a calendar or in a journal are also totally fine.
What can help especially, and that a lot of people don’t do, is to have a system of regular personal reviews—like a work “performance review”, but for oneself and one’s own life.
Set a reminder or write on the calendar / in your diary, to review monthly, or weekly if you prefer, such things as:
- How am I doing in the areas of life that are important to me?
- Have a list of the areas of life that are important to you, by the way, and genuinely reflect on each of them, e.g:
- Health
- Finances
- Relationships
- Learning
- Sleep
- Etc
- Have a list of the areas of life that are important to you, by the way, and genuinely reflect on each of them, e.g:
- What is working for me, and what isn’t working for me?
- What will I do better in this next month/week?
…and then do it!
Good luck, and may it all stack up in your favor!
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Heart-Healthy Lifestyle, Life-Long Healthy Brain
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Here at 10almonds, often say “what’s good for your heart is good for your brain” and it’s true, largely because the blood is what nourishes the brain (with oxygen and nutrients), and ultimately takes away detritus that shouldn’t be there (including α-synuclein and β-amyloid clearance, to protect you from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, respectively).
See also: Brainwashing (but not like that)
So, you cannot have a healthy brain if your blood supply is not healthy (indeed, if you interrupt the blood supply, then the brain will shut down in seconds).
Genes predispose; they don’t predetermine
Or, more colorfully expressed: genes load the gun, but it’s lifestyle that pulls the trigger.
We explored the implications of genetics and lifestyle when it comes to vascular dementia, here:
What’s Your Vascular Dementia Risk? ← this includes the American Heart Association’s risk calculator tool!
So, time for some good news: a very large (n=365,000) study found that a heart-healthy lifestyle can protect your brain, regardless of your genetic risk factors for heart disease.
By that we mean: completely independently of the genetic risk factor.
Now, those with high genetic and lifestyle risk for heart disease also had, by default, a higher chance of getting dementia, especially vascular dementia (for obvious reasons). But those who followed a heart-healthy lifestyle (e.g. eating a heart-healthy diet, staying active, sleeping enough, not smoking, and keeping blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol in check) had a much lower risk of dementia, no matter their genetic risk.
In fact, those with the aforementioned healthy habits cut their risk of vascular dementia by up to 50%.
In short: even if you’re born with a higher risk, your daily choices really can make a big difference for your brain and your heart.
You can read the paper in full here: Genetic and Lifestyle Risks for Coronary Artery Disease and Long-Term Risk of Incident Dementia Subtypes
Want to know more?
If you’d like a simple 5-step plan to better heart health, then here you go:
The S.T.E.P.S. To A Healthier Heart
And if you think the 7 habits focused-on in the study (and the American Heart Association’s “simple 7” risk calculator tool linked further up) are just a bit too simple, then check out this excellent book that we reviewed, that has 100 heart-healthy habits, each of which can improve your heart health, and protect your brain:
Take care!
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Dr. Greger’s Anti-Aging Eight
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Dr. Greger’s Anti-Aging Eight
This is Dr. Michael Greger. We’ve featured him before: Brain Food? The Eyes Have It!
This time, we’re working from his latest book, the excellent “How Not To Age”, which we reviewed all so recently. It is very information-dense, but we’re going to be focussing on one part, his “anti-aging eight”, that is to say, eight interventions he rates the most highly to slow aging in general (other parts of the book pertained to slowing eleven specific pathways of aging, or preserving specific bodily functions against aging, for example).
Without further ado, his “anti-aging eight” are…
- Nuts
- Greens
- Berries
- Xenohormesis & microRNA manipulation
- Prebiotics & postbiotics
- Caloric restriction / IF
- Protein restriction
- NAD+
As you may have noticed, some of these are things might appear already on your grocery shopping list; others don’t seem so “household”. Let’s break them down:
Nuts, greens, berries
These are amongst the most nutrient-dense and phytochemical-useful parts of the diet that Dr. Greger advocates for in his already-famous “Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen”.
For brevity, we’ll not go into the science of these here, but will advise you: eat a daily portion of nuts, a daily portion of berries, and a couple of daily portions of greens.
Xenohormesis & microRNA manipulation
You might, actually, have these on your grocery shopping list too!
Hormesis, you may recall from previous editions of 10almonds, is about engaging in a small amount of eustress to trigger the body’s self-strengthening response, for example:
Xenohormesis is about getting similar benefits, second-hand.
For example, plants that have been grown to “organic” standards (i.e. without artificial pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers) have had to adapt to their relatively harsher environment by upping their levels of protective polyphenols and other phytochemicals that, as it turns out, are as beneficial to us as they are to the plants:
Hormetic Effects of Phytochemicals on Health and Longevity
Additionally, the flip side of xenohormesis is that some plant compounds can themselves act as a source of hormetic stress that end up bolstering us. For example:
In essence, it’s not just that it has anti-oxidant effect; it also provides a tiny oxidative-stress immunization against serious sources of oxidative stress—and thus, aging.
MicroRNA manipulation is, alas, too complex to truly summarize an entire chapter in a line or two, but it has to do with genetic information from the food that we eat having a beneficial or deleterious effect to our own health:
Diet-derived microRNAs: unicorn or silver bullet?
A couple of quick takeaways (out of very many) from Dr. Greger’s chapter on this is to spring for the better quality olive oil, and skip the cow’s milk:
- Impact of Phenol-Enriched Virgin Olive Oils on the Postprandial Levels of Circulating microRNAs Related to Cardiovascular Disease
- MicroRNA exosomes of pasteurized milk: potential pathogens of Western diseases
Prebiotics & Postbiotics
We’re short on space, so we’ll link you to a previous article, and tell you that it’s important against aging too:
Making Friends With Your Gut (You Can Thank Us Later)
An example of how one of Dr. Greger’s most-recommended postbiotics helps against aging, by the way:
- The mitophagy activator urolithin A is safe and induces a molecular signature of improved mitochondrial and cellular health in humans
- Urolithin A improves muscle strength, exercise performance, and biomarkers of mitochondrial health in a randomized trial in middle-aged adults
(Urolithin can be found in many plants, and especially those containing tannins)
See also: How to Make Urolithin Postbiotics from Tannins
Caloric restriction / Intermittent fasting
This is about lowering metabolic load and promoting cellular apoptosis (programmed cell death; sounds bad; is good) and autophagy (self-consumption; again, sounds bad; is good).
For example, he cites the intermittent fasters’ 46% lower risk of dying in the subsequent years of follow-up in this longitudinal study:
For brevity we’ll link to our previous IF article, but we’ll revisit caloric restriction in a main feature on of these days:
Fasting Without Crashing? We sort the science from the hype!
Dr. Greger favours caloric restriction over intermittent fasting, arguing that it is easier to adhere to and harder to get wrong if one has some confounding factor (e.g. diabetes, or a medication that requires food at certain times, etc). If adhered to healthily, the benefits appear to be comparable for each, though.
Protein restriction
In contrast to our recent main feature Protein vs Sarcopenia, in which that week’s featured expert argued for high protein consumption levels, protein restriction can, on the other hand, have anti-aging effects. A reminder that our body is a complex organism, and sometimes what’s good for one thing is bad for another!
Dr. Greger offers protein restriction as a way to get many of the benefits of caloric restriction, without caloric restriction. He further notes that caloric restriction without protein restriction doesn’t decrease IGF-1 levels (a marker of aging).
However, for FGF21 levels (these are good and we want them higher to stay younger), what matters more than lowering proteins in general is lowering levels of the amino acid methionine—found mostly in animal products, not plants—so the source of the protein matters:
For example, legumes deliver only 5–10% of the methionine that meat does, for the same amount of protein, so that’s a factor to bear in mind.
NAD+
This is about nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD+ to its friends.
NAD+ levels decline with age, and that decline is a causal factor in aging, and boosting the levels can slow aging:
Therapeutic Potential of NAD-Boosting Molecules: The In Vivo Evidence
Can we get NAD+ from food? We can, but not in useful quantities or with sufficient bioavailability.
Supplements, then? Dr. Greger finds the evidence for their usefulness lacking, in interventional trials.
How to boost NAD+, then? Dr. Greger prescribes…
Exercise! It boosts levels by 127% (i.e., it more than doubles the levels), based on a modest three-week exercise bike regimen:
Skeletal muscle NAMPT is induced by exercise in humans
Another study on resistance training found the same 127% boost:
Take care!
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Sweet Spot for Brain Health – by Dr. Sui Wong
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At 10almonds we often mention that “what’s good for the heart is good for the brain”, but at least in part, it’s because (as this book makes very clear), “what’s good for the blood is good for the brain”. After all, our brain uses about 25% of our energy, and that energy is delivered there by the blood. And if it doesn’t get enough nutrients, oxygen, etc, and detritus isn’t taken away, then problems happen.
Dr. Wong discusses Alzheimer’s as heavily driven by metabolic problems such as diabetes and even pre-diabetes, and sets out to put in our hands the guidebook to not only not doing that, but also, actually making sure our brain gets proper nourishment without delivering that as intermittent sugar spikes because we opted for a something with very fast-acting carbs to perk us up energetically.
More than most books on the topic, she talks a lot about the neurobiology of glucose metabolism, so that’s something that really sets this book apart from many of its genre.
The style is narrative, explaining the body’s processes in a clear fashion, without skimping on science. There are definitely words that your average layperson might not know, but they’re explained as we go, and there are frequent recaps of what we learned previously, making for ultimately easy reading.
After all the information is given, there’s also a guided “12-week challenge” with a theme-of-the-week for each week, to integrate a new lifestyle adjustment each week in a progressive fashion so that without needing to drastically change many things at once, we get where we need to be in terms of healthy habits.
Bottom line: if you’d like to do right by your brain and while you’re at it say goodbye to blood sugar highs and lows, then this book is an excellent guide for that.
Click here to check out Sweet Spot For Brain Health, and enjoy a consistently-energized brain!
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Banana vs Plum – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing bananas to plums, we picked the bananas.
Why?
Both are great! But…
In terms of macros, bananas have nearly 2x the fiber, as well as more carbs and protein, winning this round.
In the category of vitamins, bananas have more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, and B9 (all those B vitamins; easy to remember, as it’s B for banana!), while plums have more of vitamins A, E, and K, giving bananas a 7:3 win here.
Looking at minerals, bananas have more copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while plums have slightly more calcium, for an overwhelming win to bananas in this round.
In other considerations, plums do have some cancer-killing properties that bananas can’t boast, so that is a point in their favor.
Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for bananas, but by all means do enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Top 8 Fruits That Prevent & Kill Cancer
Enjoy!
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How To Read Your DEXA Scan (Before It’s Too Late)
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Dr. Vonda Wright walks us through it:
Down to a “T”
Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans measure bone mineral density and can help identify fracture risk.
This bone mineral density (before we get to working out T-scores) is reported in grams per square centimeter. Dr. Wright describes approximately 1 g/cm² as a generally healthy value, although interpretation depends on the measurement site (e.g. hip vs spine vs somewhere else, and even where specifically within those), and can also depend on the individual—bone density alone is not the sole factor in fracture risk; bone structure matters too, and DEXA scans aren’t as good with that, even when a trabecular score (a measure of bone structure quality) is offered.
If you do get a trabecular score though, then for what it’s worth, the range you’d like to be in is something like 1.0–1.3.
One thing that a lot of people don’t think about is that bone health should be monitored before old age because peak bone density is reached around age 30, and substantial bone loss can occur during perimenopause and menopause, if we’re not careful.
Now, about the T-score: the T-score compares bone density with that of a healthy 30-year-old of the same sex as you, and the number of the T-score represents standard deviations from the norm. Higher or positive scores indicate greater bone density, while lower scores indicate reduced bone density:
- Above −1: considered to be within the bounds of normal bone density, though really you want 0 or higher
- −1 to −2.5: indicates osteopenia
- −2.5 or lower: indicates osteoporosis
There is also a Z-score: this is mathematically the same thing and is calculated in the same way, but instead, it compares it to the average for people the same age and sex as you. Dr. Wright considers this less important than the T-score. We agree. After all, we want to be healthy, not “average health for our age”!
And, bone density can absolutely be maintained, unless you have some very specific disorder that prevents you from doing so, so it’s not something that’s inevitable with passing years.
Dr. Wright gives her own example; in the video, she compares her 2023 and January 2026 DEXA scans. Her lumbar-spine T-score was 1.7, and she enjoyed a 9% increase in spinal bone density. Her left femoral-neck T-score was 0.1, left total-hip T-score was 1.2, right femoral-neck T-score was 0, and right total-hip T-score was 1.
For more on all of this plus visual illustrations, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
21% Stronger Bones in a Year at 62? Yes, It’s Possible (No Calcium Supplements Needed!)
Take care!
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Make Your Retinoids Gentler On Your Skin
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.
Dr. Sam Ellis, dermatologist, explains:
Gently does it
Retinol is very popular for anti-aging, but many struggle to make it work for them initially without skin irritation, so…
- Begin with low-potency retinol (or retinaldehyde) to minimize irritation; strong prescription options like tretinoin aren’t ideal for sensitive or new users. Many see excellent results without needing prescription-strength products!
- Use a hydrating serum under retinol and a moisturizer on top (“serum sandwich”) to enhance absorption without irritation. Apply only a pea-sized amount using the “tiny dot method” for even distribution and to protect sensitive areas.
- If you have sensitive skin, consider “pre-slugging” sensitive areas (eyes, nose, mouth) with Vaseline before applying retinol to prevent undue irritation. On non-retinol nights, you can also use barrier-repair creams to strengthen and soothe your skin for better long-term results.
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:
Retinoids: Retinol vs Retinal vs Retinoic Acid vs..?
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
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