Laugh Often, To Laugh Longest!

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Putting The Abs Into Absurdity

We’ve talked before about the health benefits of a broadly positive outlook on life:

Optimism Seriously Increases Longevity!

…and we’re very serious about it, but that’s about optimistic life views in general, and today we’re about not just keeping good humor in questionable circumstances, but actively finding good humor in the those moments—even when the moments in question might not be generally described as good!

After all, laughter really can be the best medicine, for example:

The effect of laughter yoga exercises on anxiety and sleep quality in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease

From the roots

First a quick recap on de-toothing the psychological aspect of threats, no matter how menacing they may be:

Hello, Emotions: Time For Radical Acceptance!

…which we can then take a step further:

What’s The Worst That Could Happen?

Choose your frame

Do you remember when that hacker hacked and publicized the US Federal no-fly list, after already hacking a nationwide cloud-based security camera company, getting access to more than 150,000 companies’ and private individuals’ security cameras, amongst various other cyber crimes, mostly various kinds of fraud and data theft?

Imagine how she (age 21) must have felt, when being indicted. What do you suppose this hacker had to say for itself under such circumstances?

❝congress is investigating now 🙂

but i stay silly :3 ❞

~ maia arson crimew

…the latter half of which, usually rendered “but I stay silly” or “but we stay silly” has since entered popular Gen-Z parlance, usually after expressing some negative thing, often in a state of powerlessness.

Which is an important life skill if powerlessness is something that is often likely.

It’s important for many Gen-Zs with negligible life prospects economically; it’s equally important for 60-somethings getting cancer diagnoses (statistically the most likely decade to find out one has cancer, by the way), and many other kinds of people younger, older, and in between.

Because at the end of the day, we all start powerless and we all end powerless.

Learned helplessness (two kinds)

In psychology, “learned helplessness” occurs when a person or creature gives up after learning that all and any attempts to resist a Bad Thing™ fail, perhaps even badly. A lab rat may just shut down and sit there getting electroshocked, for example. A person subjected to abuse may stop trying to improve their situation, and just go with the path of least resistance.

But, there’s another kind, wherein someone in a position of absolute powerlessness not only makes their peace with that, but also, decides that the one thing the outside world can’t control, is how they take it. Like the hacker we mentioned earlier.

Sometimes the gallows humor is even more literal, laughing at one’s own impending death. Not as a matter of bravado, but genuinely seeing the funny side.

But how?

Unfortunately, fortunately

The trick here is to “find a silver lining” that is nowhere near enough to compensate for the bad thing—and it may even be worse! But that’s fine:

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to do the dishes before leaving for my vacation. Fortunately, I also forgot to turn the oven off, so the house burning down covered up my messy kitchen”

Writer’s personal less drastic example: today I set my espresso machine to press me an espresso; it doesn’t have an auto-off and I got distracted and it overflowed everywhere; my immediate reaction was “Oh! I have been blessed with an abundance of coffee!”

This kind of silly little thing, on a daily basis, builds a very solid habit for life that allows one to see the funny side in even the most absurd situations, even matters of life and death (can confirm: been there enough times personally—so far so good, still alive to find the remembered absurdity silly).

The point is not to genuinely value the “silver lining”, because half the time it isn’t even one, really, and it is useless to pretend, in seriousness.

But to pretend in silliness? Now we’re onto something, and the real benefit is in the laughs we had along the way.

Because those worst moments? Are probably when we need it the most, so it’s good to get some practice in!

Want more ways to find the funny and make it a life habit?

We reviewed a good book recently:

The Humor Habit: Rewire Your Brain To Stress Less, Laugh More, And Achieve More’er – by Paul Osincup

Stay silly!

Don’t Forget…

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    This brain health book stands out from the rest by focusing on cognitive and behavioral adjustments, social factors, and actionable advice. Find your next level of cognitive performance with “Activate Your Brain”!

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  • What Curiosity Really Kills

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    Curiosity Kills The Neurodegeneration

    Of the seven things that Leonardo da Vinci considered most important for developing and maintaining the mind, number one on his list was curiosity, and we’re going to be focussing on that today.

    In case you are curious about what seven things made Leonardo’s* list, they were:

    1. Curiosità: an insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning
    2. Dimostrazione: a commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes
    3. Sensazione: the continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as a means to enliven experience
    4. Sfumato: (lit: “gone up in smoke”) a willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty
    5. Arte/Scienza: the curated balance of art and science, imagination and logic
    6. Corporalità: the cultivation of physical grace, ambidexterity, and fitness
    7. Connessione: a recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of phenomena (systems-based thinking)

    *In case you are curious why we wrote “Leonardo” and not “da Vinci” as per our usual convention of shortening names to last names, da Vinci is not technically a name, in much the same way as “of Nazareth” was not a name.

    You can read more about all 7 of these in a book that we’ve reviewed previously:

    How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day – by Michael J. Gelb

    But for now, let’s take on “curiosity”!

    If you need an extra reason to focus on growing and nurturing your curiosity, it was also #1 of Dr. Daniel Levitin’s list of…

    The Five Keys Of Aging Healthily

    …and that’s from a modern-day neuroscientist whose research focuses on aging, the brain, health, productivity, and creativity.

    But how do we foster curiosity in the age of Google?

    Curiosity is like a muscle: use it or lose it

    While it’s true that many things can be Googled to satisfy one’s curiosity in an instant…

    • do you? It’s only useful if you do use it
    • is the top result on Google reliable?
    • there are many things that aren’t available there

    In short: douse “fast food information” sources, but don’t rely on them! Not just for the sake of having correct information, but also: for the actual brain benefits which is what we are aiming for here with today’s article.

    If you want the best brain benefits, dive in, and go deep

    Here at 10almonds we often present superficial information, with links to deeper information (often: scholarly articles). We do this because a) there’s only so much we can fit in our articles and b) we know you only have so much time available, and/but may choose to dive deeper.

    Think of it in layers, e.g:

    • Collagen is good for joints and bones
    • Collagen is a protein made of these amino acids that also requires these vitamins and minerals to be present in order to formulate it
    • Those amino acids are needed in these quantities, of which this particular one is usually the weakest link that might need supplementing, and those vitamins and minerals need to be within this period of time, but not these ones at the exact same time, or else it will disrupt the process of collagen synthesis

    (in case you’re curious, we covered this here and here and offered a very good, very in-depth book about it here)

    Now, this doesn’t mean that to have a healthy brain you need to have the equivalent knowledge of an anatomy & physiology degree, but it is good to have that level of curiosity in at least some areas of your life—and the more, the better.

    Top tips for developing a habit of curiosity

    As you probably know, most of our endeavors as humans go best when they are habits:

    How To Really Pick Up (And Keep!) Those Habits

    And as for specifically building a habit of curiosity:

    1. Make a deal with yourself that when someone is excited to tell you what they know about something (no matter whether it is your grandkid, or the socially awkward nerd at a party, or whoever), listen and learn, no matter the topic.
    2. Learn at least one language other than your native language (presumably English for most of our readers). Not only does learning a language convey a lot of brain benefits of its own, but also, it is almost impossible to separate language learning from cultural learning, and so you will learn a lot about another culture too, and have whole new worlds opened up to you. Again, more is better, but one second language is already a lot better than none.
    3. Make a regular habit of going to your local library, and picking out a non-fiction book to take home and read. This has an advantage over a bookshop, by the way (and not just that the library is free): since library books must be returned, you will keep going back, and build a habit of taking out books.
    4. Pick a skill that you’d like to make into a fully-fledged hobby, and commit to continually learning as much about it as you can. We already covered language-learning above, but others might include: gardening (perhaps a specific kind), cooking (perhaps a specific kind), needlecraft (perhaps a specific kind), dance (perhaps a specific kind). You could learn a musical instrument. Or it could be something very directly useful, like learning to be a first responder in case of emergencies, and committing to continually learning more about it (because there is always more to learn).

    And when it comes to the above choices… Pick things that excite you, regardless of how practical or not they are. Because that stimulation that keeps on driving you? That’s what keeps your brain active, healthy, and sharp.

    Enjoy!

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  • Gravitas – by Caroline Goyder

    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.

    A no-nonsense guide to (more than!) public speaking that isn’t just “tell jokes in your speech and imagine the audience naked”.

    Because this isn’t just about speech-writing or speech delivery, so much as giving you important life skills. The kind that weren’t taught in school, but that nevertheless make a huge impact on success… whether you’re giving a presentation or hosting a party or negotiating a deal or just attending a social event. Or making a phonecall, even.

    Whereas a lot of books of this kind treat “the audience” as a nebulous and purely responsive passive crowd of extras, Goyder does better. People are individuals, even if they’re all facing the same way for a moment. She works with that! She also teaches how to deal with not just hecklers, but also simply those people who sap your confidence and find fault with you and anything you do or say.b

    Bottom line is: if you for whatever reason communicate with people, and would like them to think better of you, this is the book for you.

    Order your copy of Gravitas from Amazon today!

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  • How Processed Is The Food You Buy, Really?

    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.

    Ultraprocessed foods are a) ubiquitous in industrialized nations b) generally not fabulous for the health. See for example:

    Abstaining from ultraprocessed food can also be difficult psychologically, because they are generally engineered specifically to trigger certain physiological responses, often with their combination of sweet and/or salty flavors with simple carbohydrates that will zip straight into one’s veins and feel immediately rewarding, even if there is a health price to pay later.

    And worse, being habituated to ultraprocessed food can make unprocessed or minimally-processed food seem less appealing:

    What causes food cravings? And what can we do about them?

    Fortunately, we can reverse this, and once we get habituated to unprocessed or minimally-processed food, the ultraprocessed will start to seem like not-food to us. You will wonder: how did I ever eat that crap?

    Now, one other thing to bear in mind:

    There is a scale of “badness”

    You might recall this article:

    Not all ultra-processed foods are bad for your health, whatever you might have heard

    For example, Reese’s confectionary and Huel nutrition powder are both ultra-processed, but one is definitely better than the other.

    See also: Are plant-based burgers really bad for your heart? Here’s what’s behind the scary headlines

    Some comparisons are obvious; others, not so much. So, how to tell the difference?

    The “True Food” Scale

    A large study analyzed ingredient lists, nutrition facts, and prices of over 50,000 food items from Target, Whole Foods, and Walmart. Using a rigorous statistical method, they assigned processing scores and compiled data into a giant database, with results published publicly.

    You can find the study here:

    Prevalence of processed foods in major US grocery stores

    That in and of itself doesn’t tell a lot that’s useful to the consumer, because the paper itself does not have all of the data from all 50,000 food items, just the aggregate results, trends, implications for public health, and suggestions for public health policy.

    However, what does tell a lot, is the public face of the database itself, which you can browse for free, and look up your regular shopping items, if you are wondering “are these textured soy pieces basically a step away from soy beans, or a frankenfood that will murder me in my sleep?”

    How it works: it examines each food, its listed ingredients, and what is known about the processedness of such ingredients. It also draws a distinction between ingredients and additives, rendering the entire process of the production of the food into an “ingredient tree”, showing what was added to what along the way. Minimally-processed foods will have barely an ingredient sapling, while ultraprocessed foods will have an ingredient tree whose branches can barely be counted, they are so numerous. It’s not just about the number of ingredients though; it’s about the processes that each underwent.

    How it represents this data: you can look at the food in the database, and it’ll tell you the ingredients and nutritional facts (which you probably knew already; it’s written on the packaging), and then show you how processed it is, and then ranking that against all other foods in the database of the same kind.

    So for example, if you are looking at a pizza (have you ever noticed how some are marketed with bright flashy colors, and others in natural tones to suggest minimal processing? This is marketing, not reliable information! Sometimes the product that looks healthier, isn’t!), then it’ll give it a score reflecting how it ranks compared to all other pizze in the database. This number is out of a hundred, and it reflects the percentile into which it falls.

    So for example, if the score your pizza gets is 47, then that means that if you looked at it next to 99 others, on average your pizza would would rank better than 46 of them and worse than 53 of them.

    In other words, the lower the score, the less processed it is on the whole.

    Here’s a side-by-side example of two cakes, one of which got a score of 3, and the other got a score of 61:

    Mini No Sugar Added Cheesecake vs EDWARDS Desserts Original Whipped Cheesecake

    And here is the main menu of the database, in which you can use the search function to look up the food you want to check, or else browse by category:

    The TrueFood Database: Search or Browse (it’s free!)

    Enjoy!

    Want to know more?

    You might like this book that we reviewed a little while back:

    Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn’t Food – by Dr. Chris van Tulleken

    Enjoy!

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  • Buffed-Up Buffalo Cauliflower

    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.

    This is a tasty snack that also more protein than you’d think, because of the garbanzo bean flour. It also has plenty of health-giving spices, as well as blood-sugar-balancing vinegar, no added sugar, and very little salt.

    You will need

    • 1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets
    • ½ cup garbanzo bean flour
    • ½ cup water
    • ⅓ cup hot sauce (we recommend a low-sugar kind; Nando’s hot sauce is good for this if available where you are, as it has no added sugar and its main ingredient by volume is vinegar, which is good for balancing blood sugars)
    • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan
    • 2 tsp garlic powder
    • 2 tsp nutritional yeast
    • 2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
    • 1 tsp smoked paprika
    • ½ tsp MSG, or 1 tsp low sodium salt

    For the ranch sauce:

    • ½ cup raw sunflower seeds
    • ⅓ cup water
    • ⅓ cup milk (plant milk being healthiest if you choose one that’s unsweetened)
    • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
    • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 tsp onion powder
    • 1 tsp dried thyme
    • 1 tsp dried oregano
    • 1 tsp dried dill
    • ½ tsp MSG, or 1 tsp low sodium salt

    Method

    (we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

    1) Preheat the oven to 400℉/200℃.

    2) Blend the ranch sauce ingredients until smooth, and set aside.

    3) Mix the buffalo cauliflower ingredients except for the cauliflower, in a big bowl.

    4) Add the cauliflower to the big bowl, mixing well to coat evenly.

    5) Bake the buffalo cauliflower florets on a baking tray lined with baking paper, for about 25 minutes, turning gently if it seems they are at risk of cooking unevenly.

    6) Serve hot, with the sunflower ranch on the side!

    Enjoy!

    Want to learn more?

    For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

    Take care!

    Don’t Forget…

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  • Plum vs Nectarine – Which is Healthier?

    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.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing plums to nectarines, we picked the nectarines.

    Why?

    Both are great! But nectarines win at least marginally in each category we look at.

    In terms of macros, plums have more carbs while nectarines have more fiber, resulting of course in a lower glycemic index. Plums do have a low GI also; just, nectarines have it better.

    When it comes to vitamins, plums have more of vitamins A, B6, C, and K, while nectarines have more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, E, and choline.

    In the category of minerals, plums are great but not higher in any mineral than nectarines; nectarines meanwhile have more copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc.

    All in all, enjoy both. And if having dried fruit, then prunes (dried plums) are generally more widely available than dried nectarines. But if you’re choosing one fruit or the other, nectarine is the way to go.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Take care!

    Don’t Forget…

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  • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck – by Mark Manson

    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.

    You may wonder from the title: is this book arguing that we should all be callous heartless monsters? And no, it is not.

    Instead, author Mark Manson advocates for cynicism, but less in the manner of Scrooge, and more in the manner of Diogenes:

    • That life will involve struggle, so we might as well at least choose our struggles.
    • That we will make mistakes, so we might as well accept them as learning experiences.
    • That we will love and we will lose, so we might as well do it right while we can.

    In short, the book is less about not caring… And more about caring about the right things only.

    So, what are “the right things”? Manson bids us decide for ourselves, but certainly has ideas and pointers, with regard to what may or may not be healthy values to pursue.

    The style throughout is casual and almost conversational, without being overly padded. It makes for very easy reading.

    If the book has a weak point, it’s that when it briefly makes a suprisingly prescriptive turn into recommending we take up Buddhism, it may feel a bit like our friend who wants us to join in the latest MLM scheme. But, he’s soon back on track.

    Bottom line: if you ever find yourself stressed with living up to unwanted expectations—your own, other people’s, and society’s—this book can really help streamline things.

    Click here to check out The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, and put your attention where it makes more of a positive difference!

    Don’t Forget…

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