How Exercise Rewires Your Brain for Better Mental Wellbeing
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Dr. Tracey Marks, psychiatrist, explains what happens immediately, and what happens over the long term:
For now and for later
First of all, a single workout can already alter brain chemistry and protect against stress. In the longer term, exercise promotes neurogenesis, primarily in the hippocampus, improving memory and reversing brain aging. It also strengthens the prefrontal cortex, which is critical for decision-making, focus, and emotional regulation.
In more general terms, exercise boosts brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, which in turn boost neuron growth and connectivity.
Exercise also promotes angiogenesis (blood vessel construction), improving oxygen and nutrient delivery to the brain.
Timeline of benefits:
- Immediate: increased blood flow and temporary BDNF spike.
- Weeks: new neurons, connections, and blood vessel growth.
- Months: visible brain volume changes and better brain connectivity.
Dr. Marks’ Timing Tips
- Morning: boosts energy and helps regulate the circadian rhythm.
- Midday: resets stress levels (specifically: to low)
- Evening: helps process emotions (but it’s still recommended to avoid high-intensity exercise close to bedtime)
For more on all of this, enjoy:
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Wondering what kind of exercise is best?
You might also like to read:
The Neuroscientist In The Gym: Dr. Wendy Suzuki Explains The Exercise That Protects Your Brain
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The Oxygen Advantage – by Patrick McKeown
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You probably know to breathe through your nose, and use your diaphragm. What else does this book have to offer?
A lot of the book is aimed at fixing specific problems, and optimizing what can be optimized—including with tips and tricks you may not have encountered before. Yet, the offerings are not bizarre either; we don’t need to learn to breathe through our ears while drinking a glass of water upside down or anything.
Rather, such simple things as improving one’s VO₂Max by occasionally holding one’s breath while walking briskly. But, he advises specifically, this should be done by pausing the breath halfway through the exhalation (a discussion of the ensuing physiological response is forthcoming).
Little things like that are woven throughout the book, whose style is mostly anecdotal rather than hard science, yet is consistent with broad scientific consensus in any case.
Bottom line: if you’ve any reason to think your breathing might be anything less than the best it could possibly be, this book is likely to help you to tweak it to be a little better.
Click here to check out The Oxygen Advantage, and get yours!
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Is Dairy Scary?
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Is Dairy Scary?
Milk and milk products are popularly enjoyed as a good source of calcium and vitamin D.
In contrast, critics of dairy products (for medical reasons, rather than ethical, which is another matter entirely and beyond the scope of this article) point to risks of cancer, heart disease, and—counterintuitively—osteoporosis. We’ll focus more on the former, but touch on the latter two before closing.
Dairy & Cancer
Evidence is highly conflicting. There are so many studies with so many different results. This is partially explicable by noting that not only is cancer a many-headed beast that comes in more than a hundred different forms and all or any of them may be affected one way or another by a given dietary element, but also… Not all milk is created equal, either!
Joanna Lampe, of the Public Health Sciences division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, writes:
❝Dairy products are a complex group of foods and composition varies by region, which makes evaluation of their association with disease risk difficult. For most cancers, associations between cancer risk and intake of milk and dairy products have been examined only in a small number of cohort studies, and data are inconsistent or lacking❞
In her systematic review of studies, she noted, for example, that:
- Milk and dairy products contain micronutrients and several bioactive constituents that may influence cancer risk and progression
- There’s probable association between milk intake and lower risk of colorectal cancer
- There’s a probable association between diets high in calcium and increased risk of prostate cancer
- Some studies show an inverse association between intake of cultured dairy products and bladder cancer (i.e., if you eat yogurt you’re less likely to get bladder cancer)
Since that systemic review was undertaken, more research has been conducted, and the results are… Not conclusive, but converging towards a conclusion:
- Dairy products can increase or decrease cancer risk
- The increase in cancer risk seems strongest when milk is consumed in quantities that result in too much calcium. When it comes to calcium, you can absolutely have too much of a good thing—just ask your arteries!
- The decrease in cancer seems to be mostly, if not exclusively, from fermented dairy products. This usually means yogurts. The benefit here is not from the milk itself, but rather from the gut-friendly bacteria.
You may be wondering: “Hardened arteries, gut microbiome health? I thought we were talking about cancer?” and yes we are. No part of your health is an island unrelated to other parts of your health. One thing can lead to another. Sometimes we know how and why, sometimes we don’t, but it’s best to not ignore the data.
The bottom line on dairy products and cancer is:
- Consuming dairy products in general is probably fine
- Yogurt, specifically, is probably beneficial
Dairy and Heart Disease
The reason for the concern is clear enough: it’s largely assumed to be a matter of saturated fat intake.
The best combination of “large” and “recent” that we found was a three-cohort longitudinal study in 2019, which pretty much confirms what was found in smaller or less recent studies:
- There is some evidence to suggest that consumption of dairy can increase all-cause mortality in general, and death from (cancer and) cardiovascular disease in particular
- The evidence is not, however, overwhelming. It is marginal.
Dairy and Osteoporosis
Does dairy cause osteoporosis? Research here tends to fall into one of two categories when it comes to conclusions, so we’ll give an example of each:
- “Results are conflicting, saying yes/no/maybe, and basically we just don’t know”
- “Results are conflicting, but look: cross-sectional and case-control studies say yes; cohort studies say maybe or no; we prefer the cohort studies”
See them for yourself:
- Osteoporosis: Is milk a kindness or a curse?
- Consumption of milk and dairy products and risk of osteoporosis and hip fracture
Conclusion: really, the jury is very much still out on this one
Summary:
- Moderate consumption of dairy products is almost certainly fine
- More specifically: it probably has some (small) pros and some (small) cons
- Yogurt is almost certainly healthier than other dairy products, and is almost universally considered a healthy food (assuming not being full of added sugar etc, of course)
- If you’re going to have non-dairy alternatives to milk, choose wisely!
That’s all we have time for today, but perhaps in a future edition we’ll do a run-down of the pros and cons of various dairy alternatives!
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Get On It! – by Jane Aronovitch, Miriane Taylor, & Colleen Craig
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Balance is important; without it, we die early. That’s quite a strong selling point for improving one’s balance, but why this book in particular?
This is—with one drawback—the best book of balance ball exercises we’ve seen. Notwithstanding the cover photo, many exercises do, by the way, involve standing on it with one or both feet, doing various kinds of squats, lunges, get-ups, and so forth. The ball (it’s not really a ball so much as an oblate hemisphere) can also be flipped and used the other way around, with a flat platform that will now wobble per your weight distribution, and train balance in different ways (dome-up trains large stabilizing muscles more; platform-up trains smaller stabilizing muscles more).
Indeed, that’s where the brand name Bosu, often stylized “BOSU”, comes from: both sides up!
So, what’s the drawback? Alas, the photos are black and white, which means in some cases they’re not as clear as they could be. Nothing that will prevent understanding the exercises, which are well-explained in any case, but it does mean that sometimes it’s necessary to look closely to see which leg is in front of the other for a given exercise, for example.
Still, with 80 different exercises it really does cover the whole body, and even gives workout program varieties for those who want that, including targeted to particular areas, e.g. lower body, core, upper body, or complete.
Bottom line: if you’d like to improve your balance (and have, or are willing to acquire, a balance ball like the Bosu), then this book will give you everything else you need in that regard.
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Kiwi vs Peach – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing kiwi to peach, we picked the kiwi.
Why?
Both are great! But…
In terms of macros, kiwi has 2x the fiber, slightly more carbs, and very slightly more protein, winning this round.
In the category of vitamins, kiwi has more of vitamins B5, B6, B7, B9, C, E, K, and choline, while peach has more of vitamins A, B2, and B3, meaning a compelling 9:3 win for kiwi here. Kiwi’s vitamins also lead by much bigger margins, too.
Looking at minerals, kiwi has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium, while peach has (slightly) more zinc; another overwhelming win for kiwi.
When it comes to other considerations, these two-fruits are well-matched for polyphenols and anticancer properties, tying in this round.
Adding up the sections makes, nevertheless, for a clear overall win for kiwi; by all means enjoy either or both, though, as diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Top 8 Fruits That Prevent & Kill Cancer
Enjoy!
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5 Surprising Symptoms of Hypertonic Pelvic Floor
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You’ve doubtlessly heard about “pelvic floor problems” as being a matter of weak pelvic floor muscles.
And while that’s certainly most common, the opposite (after a fashion) can also be a problem:
Too much of a good thing
The pelvic floor is normally a bowl-shaped group of muscles that contract upwards when activated and relax downwards at rest. In the “hypertonic” state, they are already contracted at rest, more like a flat plate than a bowl, similar to shoulders that sit shrugged up without the person realizing.
The five symptoms, or rather the categories of symptoms, are:
- bladder problems: urgency and overactive bladder, painful bladder syndrome, pain while filling or emptying, interstitial cystitis, and urinary retention where muscles can’t relax enough to fully empty the bladder.
- bowel problems: rectal obstruction (feeling that nothing can come out), constipation, non-relaxing puborectalis muscle, and/or recurrent fissures or hemorrhoids, due to the poor muscle relaxation and resultantly reduced blood flow for healing.
- sexual problems: painful intercourse (dyspareunia), vaginismus (muscles so tight that penetration isn’t possible), pain with tampon or similar insertion, and/or vulvodynia or vestibulodynia, characterized by pain localized to vulvar or vestibular area, rather than the vagina itself.
- neurological problems: constant tension can compress the pudendal, iliohypogastric, and genitofemoral nerves (amongst others), leading to neuralgia and nerve pain in their distribution areas (i.e. where the nerves run to and from these parts).
- orthopedic problems: pelvic floor muscles connect to the pelvis and core, so hypertonicity can contribute to unresolved low back pain, tailbone pain, sacroiliac joint pain, hip pain, or pubic symphysis dysfunction.
What to do about these things? Pelvic relaxation exercises can help. Massage is usually beneficial (yes, there, and yes, that kind can also help), and assessment and treatment with a pelvic physical therapist can restore a more relaxed resting state and thus reduce the symptoms.
For more on all of this, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like:
To Pee Or Not To Pee ← there is, in fact, a flood of reasons not to hold
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Red Cabbage vs White Cabbage – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing red cabbage to white cabbage, we picked the red.
Why?
Perhaps you guessed this one, based on the “darker and/or more colorful foods are usually more nutritionally dense” dictum. That’s not always true, by the way, but it is a good rule of thumb and it is correct here. In the case of cabbages, each type is a nutritional powerhouse, but red does beat white:
In terms of macros, they’re quite comparable. They’re both >90% water with just enough other stuff (carbs, fiber, protein) to hold them together, and the “other stuff” in question is quite similarly proportioned in both cases. Within the carbs, even the sugar breakdown is similar. There are slight differences, but the differences are not only tiny, but also they balance out in any case. Thus, a tie in this round.
When it comes to vitamins, as you might expect, the colorful red cabbage does better with more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, and C, while white has more of vitamins B5, B9, E, and K. So, a 6:4 win for red.
In the category of minerals, it’s even more polarized; red cabbage has more calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc. On the other hand, white contains a tiny amount more copper.
Adding up the sections shows a clear overall win for red, but do enjoy either or both, as diversity is good!
Today was one of those cases where red just makes white look bad by standing next to it, but honestly, white has lots of all those same things too, just not quite as much as red, and this writer will continue to use white when making her favorite shchi 🥬💕
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
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