Mineral-Rich Mung Bean Pancakes

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Mung beans are rich in an assortment of minerals, especially iron, copper, phosphorus, and magnesium. They’re also full of protein and fiber! What better way to make pancakes healthy?

You will need

  • ½ cup dried green mung beans
  • ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • ½ cup chopped fresh dill
  • ¼ cup uncooked wholegrain rice
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp MSG, or 2 tsp low-sodium salt
  • 2 green onions, finely sliced
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

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

1) Soak the mung beans and rice together overnight.

2) Drain and rinse, and blend them in a blender with ¼ cup of water, to the consistency of regular pancake batter, adding more water (sparingly) if necessary.

3) Transfer to a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients except for the olive oil, which latter you can now heat in a skillet over a medium-high heat.

4) Add a few spoonfuls of batter to the pan, depending on how big you want the pancakes to be. Cook on both sides until you get a golden-brown crust, and repeat for the rest of the pancakes.

5) Serve! As these are savory pancakes, you might consider serving them with a little salad—tomatoes, olives, and cucumbers go especially well.

Enjoy!

Want to learn more?

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

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  • Are Waist Trainers Just A Waste, And Are Posture Fixers A Quick Fix?

    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.

    Are Waist Trainers Just A Waste, And Are Posture Fixers A Quick Fix?

    Yesterday, we asked you for your opinions on waist trainers and posture-fixing harnesses, and got the above-depicted, below-described set of results:

    • The most popular response was “Waist trainers are purely cosmetic, so useless. Posture-fixers have merit”, with a little over a quarter of the votes.
    • The least popular response was “Both are great tools to help us to optimal waist size and posture, respectively!
    • The other three answers each got a little under a quarter of the vote. In terms of discrete data, these were all 7±1, so basically, there was nothing in it.

    The sample size was smaller than usual—perhaps the cluster of American holiday dates yesterday and today kept people busy! But, pressing on…

    What does the science say?

    Waist trainers are purely cosmetic, so, useless. True or False?

    True, simply. Honestly, they’re not even that great for cosmetic purposes. They will indeed cinch in your middle, and this shape will be retained for a (very) short while after uncinching, because your organs have been squished inwards and may take a short while to get back to where they are supposed to be.

    The American Board of Cosmetic Surgery may not be an unbiased source, but we’re struggling to find scientists who will even touch one of these, so, let’s see what these doctors have to say:

    • Waist training can damage vital organs
    • You will be slowly suffocating yourself
    • Waist training simply doesn’t work
    • You cannot drastically change your body shape with a piece of fabric*

    Read: ABCS | 4 Reasons to Throw Your Waist Trainer in the Trash

    *”But what about foot-binding?”—feet have many bones, whose growth can be physically restricted. Your waist has:

    • organs: necessary! (long-term damage possible, but they’re not going away)
    • muscles: slightly restrictable! (temporary restriction; no permanent change)
    • fat: very squeezable! (temporary muffin; no permanent change)

    Posture correctors have merit: True or False?

    True—probably, and as a stepping-stone measure only.

    The Ergonomics Health Association (a workplace health & safety organization) says:

    ❝Looking at the clinical evidence of posture correctors, we can say without a doubt that they do work, just not for everyone and not in the same way for all patients.❞

    Source: Do Posture Correctors Work? Here’s What Our Experts Think

    That’s not very compelling, so we looked for studies, and found… Not much, actually. However, what we did find supported the idea that “they probably do help, but we seriously need better studies with less bias”:

    The use of posture-correcting shirts for managing musculoskeletal pain is not supported by current evidence

    That is also not a compelling title, but here is where it pays to look at the studies and not just the titles. Basically, they found that the results were favorable to the posture-correctors—the science itself was just trash:

    ❝ The overall findings were that posture-correcting shirts change posture and subjectively have a positive effect on discomfort, energy levels and productivity.

    The quality of the included literature was poor to fair with only one study being of good quality. The risk of bias was serious or critical for the included studies. Overall, this resulted in very low confidence in available evidence.❞

    ~ Palsson et al.

    Since the benefit of posture correctors like this one is due to reminding the wearer to keep good posture, there is a lot more (good quality!) science for wearable biofeedback tech devices, such as this one:

    Spine Cop: Posture Correction Monitor and Assistant

    Take care!

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  • Why is toddler milk so popular? Follow the money

    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.

    Toddler milk is popular and becoming more so. Just over a third of Australian toddlers drink it. Parents spend hundreds of millions of dollars on it globally. Around the world, toddler milk makes up nearly half of total formula milk sales, with a 200% growth since 2005. Growth is expected to continue.

    We’re concerned about the growing popularity of toddler milk – about its nutritional content, cost, how it’s marketed, and about the impact on the health and feeding of young children. Some of us voiced our concerns on the ABC’s 7.30 program recently.

    But what’s in toddler milk? How does it compare to cow’s milk? How did it become so popular?

    What is toddler milk? Is it healthy?

    Toddler milk is marketed as appropriate for children aged one to three years. This ultra-processed food contains:

    • skim milk powder (cow, soy or goat)
    • vegetable oil
    • sugars (including added sugars)
    • emulsifiers (to help bind the ingredients and improve the texture)
    • added vitamins and minerals.

    Toddler milk is usually lower in calcium and protein, and higher in sugar and calories than regular cow’s milk. Depending on the brand, a serve of toddler milk can contain as much sugar as a soft drink.

    Even though toddler milks have added vitamins and minerals, these are found in and better absorbed from regular foods and breastmilk. Toddlers do not need the level of nutrients found in these products if they are eating a varied diet.

    Global health authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO), and Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council, do not recommend toddler milk for healthy toddlers.

    Some children with specific metabolic or dietary medical problems might need tailored alternatives to cow’s milk. However, these products generally are not toddler milks and would be a specific product prescribed by a health-care provider.

    Toddler milk is also up to four to five times more expensive than regular cow’s milk. “Premium” toddler milk (the same product, with higher levels of vitamins and minerals) is more expensive.

    With the cost-of-living crisis, this means families might choose to go without other essentials to afford toddler milk.

    Woman holding blue plastic spoon of formula powder over open tin of formula, milk bottle in background
    Toddler milk is more expensive than cow’s milk and contains more sugar.
    Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock

    How toddler milk was invented

    Toddler milk was created so infant formula companies could get around rules preventing them from advertising their infant formula.

    When manufacturers claim benefits of their toddler milk, many parents assume these claimed benefits apply to infant formula (known as cross-promotion). In other words, marketing toddler milks also boosts interest in their infant formula.

    Manufacturers also create brand loyalty and recognition by making the labels of their toddler milk look similar to their infant formula. For parents who used infant formula, toddler milk is positioned as the next stage in feeding.

    How toddler milk became so popular

    Toddler milk is heavily marketed. Parents are told toddler milk is healthy and provides extra nutrition. Marketing tells parents it will benefit their child’s growth and development, their brain function and their immune system.

    Toddler milk is also presented as a solution to fussy eating, which is common in toddlers.

    However, regularly drinking toddler milk could increase the risk of fussiness as it reduces opportunities for toddlers to try new foods. It’s also sweet, needs no chewing, and essentially displaces energy and nutrients that whole foods provide.

    Toddler wearing bib with food smeared on face
    Toddler milk is said to help fussy eating, but it may make things worse.
    zlikovec/Shutterstock

    Growing concern

    The WHO, along with public health academics, has been raising concerns about the marketing of toddler milk for years.

    In Australia, moves to curb how toddler milk is promoted have gone nowhere. Toddler milk is in a category of foods that are allowed to be fortified (to have vitamins and minerals added), with no marketing restrictions. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission also has concerns about the rise of toddler milk marketing. Despite this, there is no change in how it’s regulated.

    This is in contrast to voluntary marketing restrictions in Australia for infant formula.

    What needs to happen?

    There is enough evidence to show the marketing of commercial milk formula, including toddler milk, influences parents and undermines child health.

    So governments need to act to protect parents from this marketing, and to put child health over profits.

    Public health authorities and advocates, including us, are calling for the restriction of marketing (not selling) of all formula products for infants and toddlers from birth through to age three years.

    Ideally, this would be mandatory, government-enforced marketing restrictions as opposed to industry self-regulation in place currently for infant formulas.

    We musn’t blame parents

    Toddlers are eating more processed foods (including toddler milk) than ever because time-poor parents are seeking a convenient option to ensure their child is getting adequate nutrition.

    Formula manufacturers have used this information, and created a demand for an unnecessary product.

    Parents want to do the best for their toddlers, but they need to know the marketing behind toddler milks is misleading.

    Toddler milk is an unnecessary, unhealthy, expensive product. Toddlers just need whole foods and breastmilk, and/or cow’s milk or a non-dairy, milk alternative.

    If parents are worried about their child’s eating, they should see a health-care professional.

    Anthea Rhodes, a paediatrician from Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne and a lecturer at the University of Melbourne, co-authored this article.The Conversation

    Jennifer McCann, Lecturer Nutrition Sciences, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University; Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, and Naomi Hull, PhD candidate, University of Sydney

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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  • The CBT Workbook for Mental Health – by Dr. Simon Rego & Sarah Fader

    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.

    We have often reviewed psychology books here with a note saying “and no, it’s not just a book of the standard CBT techniques that you probably already know”.

    So today, this one’s for anyone who was ever thinking “but I don’t know the standard CBT techniques and I would like to know them!”.

    The authors outline specific solutions to many common quantifiable problems, with simple exercises that are well-explained and easy to implement.

    Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is not a panacea, but for the things it can be used for, it’s very effective and is a very good “first thing to reach for” to see if it works, because its success rate for a lot of problems is very high.

    What kinds of things is this book most likely to help with? A lot of common forms of stress, anxiety, self-esteem issues, cravings, shame, and relationship issues. Other things too, but we can’t list everything and that list already covers a lot of very high-incidence stuff.

    Bottom line: if CBT isn’t something already in your toolbox, this book will help you add all its best tips and tricks.

    Click here to check out The CBT Workbook for Mental Health, and get tooled up!

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  • 10,000 Steps, 30 Days, 4 Changes

    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.

    Ariel wasn’t the most active person, and took on a “30 day challenge” to do the commonly-prescribed 10,000 steps per day—without adjusting her diet or doing any other exercise. How much of a difference does it make, really?

    Stepping onwards

    The 4 main things that she found changed for her weren’t all what she expected:

    • Weight loss yes, but only marginally: she lost 3 lbs in a month, which did nevertheless make a visible difference. We might hypothesize that part of the reason for the small weight loss and yet visible difference is that she gained a little muscle, and the weight loss was specifically shifting away from a cortisol-based fat distribution, to a more healthy fat distribution.
    • Different eating habits: she felt less hungry and craved less sugar. This likely has less to do with calorie consumption, and more to do with better insulin signalling.
    • Increased energy and improved mood: these are going together in one item, because she said “4 things”, but really they are two related things. So, consider one of them a bonus item! In any case, she felt more energized and productive, and less reliant on caffeine.
    • Improved sleep: or rather, at first, disrupted sleep, and then slept better and stayed better. A good reminder that changes for the better don’t always feel better in the first instance!

    To hear about it in her own words, and see the before and after pictures, enjoy:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like to read:

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  • The Autoimmune Cure – by Dr. Sara Gottfried

    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.

    We’ve featured Dr. Gottfried before, as well as another of her books (“Younger”), and this one’s a little different, and on the one hand very specific, while on the other hand affecting a lot of people.

    You may be thinking, upon reading the subtitle, “this sounds like Dr. Gabor Maté’s ideas” (per: “When The Body Says No”), and 1) you’d be right, and 2) Dr. Gottfried does credit him in the introduction and refers back to his work periodically later.

    What she adds to this, and what makes this book a worthwhile read in addition to Dr. Maté’s, is looking clinically at the interactions of the immune system and nervous system, but also the endocrine system (Dr. Gottfried’s specialty) and the gut.

    Another thing she adds is more of a focus on what she writes about as “little-t trauma”, which is the kind of smaller, yet often cumulative, traumas that often eventually add up over time to present as C-PTSD.

    While “stress increases inflammation” is not a novel idea, Dr. Gottfried takes it further, and looks at a wealth of clinical evidence to demonstrate the series of events that, if oversimplified, seem unbelievable, such as “you had a bad relationship and now you have lupus”—showing evidence for each step in the snowballing process.

    The style is a bit more clinical than most pop-science, but still written to be accessible to laypersons. This means that for most of us, it might not be the quickest read, but it will be an informative and enlightening one.

    In terms of practical use (and living up to its subtitle promise of “cure”), this book does also cover all sorts of potential remedial approaches, from the obvious (diet, sleep, supplements, meditation, etc) to the less obvious (ketamine, psilocybin, MDMA, etc), covering the evidence so far as well as the pros and cons.

    Bottom line: if you have or suspect you may have an autoimmune problem, and/or would just like to nip the risk of such in the bud (especially bearing in mind that the same things cause neuroinflammation and thus, putatively, depression and dementia too), then this is one for you.

    Click here to check out the Autoimmune Cure, and take care of your body and mind!

    Don’t Forget…

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    Learn to Age Gracefully

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  • Avoiding/Managing Osteoarthritis

    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.

    Avoiding/Managing Osteoarthritis

    Arthritis is the umbrella term for a cluster of joint diseases involving inflammation of the joints, hence “arthr-” (joint) “-itis” (suffix used to denote inflammation).

    Inflammatory vs Non-Inflammatory Arthritis

    Arthritis is broadly divided into inflammatory arthritis and non-inflammatory arthritis.

    Some forms, such as rheumatoid arthritis, are of the inflammatory kind. We wrote about that previously:

    See: Avoiding/Managing Rheumatoid Arthritis

    You may be wondering: how does one get non-inflammatory inflammation of the joints?

    The answer is, in “non-inflammatory” arthritis, such as osteoarthritis, the damage comes first (by general wear-and-tear) and inflammation generally follows as part of the symptoms, rather than the cause.

    So the name can be a little confusing. In the case of osteo- and other “non-inflammatory” forms of arthritis, you definitely still want to keep your inflammation at bay as best you can; it’s just not the prime focus.

    So, what should we focus on?

    First and foremost: avoiding wear-and-tear if possible. Naturally, we all must live our lives, and sometimes that means taking a few knocks, and definitely it means using our joints. An unused joint would suffer just as much as an abused one. But, we can take care of our joints!

    We wrote on that previously, too:

    See: How To Really Look After Your Joints

    New osteoarthritis medication (hot off the press!)

    At 10almonds, we try to keep on top of new developments, and here’s a shiny new one from this month:

    Note also that Dr. Flavia Cicuttini there talks about what we talked about above—that calling it non-inflammatory arthritis is a little misleading, as the inflammation still occurs.

    And finally…

    You might consider other lifestyle adjustments to manage your symptoms. These include:

    • Exercise—gently, though!
    • Rest—while keeping mobility going.
    • Mobility aids—if it helps, it helps.
    • Go easy on the use of braces, splints, etc—these can offer short-term relief, but at a long term cost of loss of mobility.
      • Only you can decide where to draw the line when it comes to that trade-off.

    You can also check out our previous article:

    See: Managing Chronic Pain (Realistically!)

    Take good care of yourself!

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