Parent Effectiveness Training – by Dr. Thomas Gordon
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Do you want your home (or workplace, for that matter) to be a place of peace? This book literally got the author nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Can’t really get much higher praise than that.
The title is “Parent Effectiveness Training”, but in reality, the advice in the book is applicable to all manner of relationships, including:
- romantic relationships
- friends
- colleagues
- …and really any human interaction.
It covers some of the same topics we did today (and more) in much more detail than we ever could in a newsletter. It lays out formulae to use, gives plenty of examples, and/but is free from undue padding.
- Pros: this isn’t one of those “should have been an article” books. It has so much valuable content.
- Cons: It is from the 1970s* so examples may feel “dated” now.
In addition to going into much more detail on some of the topics covered in today’s issue of 10almonds, Dr. Gordon also talks in-depth about the concept of “problem-ownership”.
In a nutshell, that means: whose problem is a given thing? Who “has” what problem? Everyone needs to be on the same page about everyone else’s problems in the situation… as well as their own, which is not always a given!
Dr. Gordon presents, in short, tools not just to resolve conflict, but also to pre-empt it entirely. With these techniques, we can identify and deal with problems (together!) well before they arise.
Everybody wins.
Get your copy of “Parent Effectiveness Training” from Amazon today!
*Note: There is an updated edition on the market, and that’s what you’ll find upon following the above link. This reviewer (hi!) has a battered old paperback from the 1970s and cannot speak for what was changed in the new edition. However: if the 70s one is worth more than its weight in gold (and it is), the new edition is surely just as good, if not better!
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Taking The Gamble Out Of Antidepressants
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…and other items from this week’s health news:
Melancholy, blood, and signs
Sounds like it could be a headline for our Halloween edition, but no!
The problem: as it stands, major depressive disorder often requires a prolonged trial-and-error process with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and potentially other kinds of antidepressants, meaning many patients spend many weeks or months on medications that don’t improve their symptoms.
The solution: researchers (Dr. Eleni Tzavara et al.) have found that a blood-based circular RNA marker known to its friends as “CDR1as” can predict how people with major depressive disorder respond to sertraline (most doctor’s go-to first-try antidepressant, despite it having a famously high hit to miss ratio).
- How it works: CDR1as is an RNA enriched in the brain that is stable in blood, crosses the blood–brain barrier, and is sensitive to synaptic activity and neuronal receptor signaling.
- What they did: Dr. Tzavara and her team measured baseline CDR1as levels in whole blood from two independent cohorts in the EMBARC and ANTARES studies before treatment with sertraline, and compared future responders with non-responders.
- What they found: baseline CDR1as levels differed between people who later responded to sertraline and those who didn’t, and changes in CDR1as after treatment were linked to long-term remission. Further, CDR1as predicted response and remission with SSRI treatment, but not with placebo or bupropion, suggesting the marker may be specific to serotonin-based therapies.
So, this may mean a lot of people will no longer have to suffer for longer while potentially getting adverse side effects for a medication that won’t work for them specifically!
Read in full: A blood marker could predict how people respond to antidepressants
Related: Antidepressants: Personalization Is Key!
Soon, more American women will have cardiovascular disease than not
A newly-released statement from the American Heart Association warns that by 2050, nearly 60% of women in the US are projected to have high blood pressure, more than 60% obesity, and over 25% diabetes, all key contributors to heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and stroke.
Not only that, but it isn’t just tied to the nature of an aging population (as the US population is), but rather, nearly one in three women aged 22–44 are expected to have some form of CVD, diabetes in this group is projected to rise from 6% to nearly 16%, and more than one third are expected to have high blood pressure.
❝One in every three women will die from cardiovascular disease—maybe it’s your grandmother, or your mother or your daughter❞
~ Dr. Stacey E. Rosen, President of the American Heart Association & Executive Director of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health
Read in full: American Heart Association warns 60% of US women will have cardiovascular disease by 2050
Related: Heart Health vs Systemic Stress
“Not addicted, but”
In the category of “I could quit anytime” beliefs, you would think that something that results in episodes of abdominal pain paired with screaming and vomiting would be something quickly desisted. Of course, we might still choose to take it if it were somehow necessary for life, or perhaps if it bestowed us with particularly impressive superpowers.
But for a mostly recreational drug whose main medical uses are primarily against pain and against anxiety, those benefits seem moot when the result is pain and screaming and vomiting.
But according to research, analyzing 188 million US emergency visits found Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome cases rose from 4.4 per 100,000 visits in 2016 to 33.1 per 100,000 in just 4 years.
The reason for the rise: while cause and effect hasn’t been proven, scientists believe it is due to the much higher potency of THC available these days, compared to the much lower-strength cannabis products available previously.
The cure is simple: stop taking cannabis.
The outcome, however? Well, mostly people don’t do that.
Read in full: Screaming, vomiting, and daily weed: The rise of “scromiting” among chronic cannabis users
Related: How Much THC Is Safe?
Take care!
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Body by Science – by Dr. Doug McGuff & John Little
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The idea that you’ll get a re-sculpted body at 12 minutes per week is a bold claim, isn’t it? Medical Doctor Doug McGuff and bodybuilder John Little team up to lay out their case. So, how does it stand up to scrutiny?
First, is it “backed by rigorous research” as claimed? Yes… with caveats.
The book uses a large body of scientific literature as its foundation, and that weight of evidence does support this general approach:
- Endurance cardio isn’t very good at burning fat
- Muscle, even just having it without using it much, burns fat to maintain it
- To that end, muscle can be viewed as a fat-burning asset
- Muscle can be grown quickly with short bursts of intense exercise once per week
Why once per week? The most relevant muscle fibers take about that long to recover, so doing it more often will undercut gains.
So, what are the caveats?
The authors argue for slow reps of maximally heavy resistance work sufficient to cause failure in about 90 seconds. However, most of the studies cited for the benefits of “brief intense exercise” are for High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). HIIT involves “sprints” of exercise. It doesn’t have to be literally running, but for example maxing out on an exercise bike for 30 seconds, slowing for 60, maxing out for 30, etc. Or in the case of resistance work, explosive (fast!) concentric movements and slow eccentric movements, to work fast- and slow-twitch muscle fibers, respectively.
What does this mean for the usefulness of the book?
- Will it sculpt your body as described in the blurb? Yes, this will indeed grow your muscles with a minimal expenditure of time
- Will it improve your body’s fat-burning metabolism? Yes, this will indeed turn your body into a fat-burning machine
- Will it improve your “complete fitness”? No, if you want to be an all-rounder athlete, you will still need HIIT, as otherwise anything taxing your under-worked fast-twitch muscle fibers will exhaust you quickly.
Bottom line: read this book if you want to build muscle efficiently, and make your body more efficient at burning fat. Best supplemented with at least some cardio, though!
Click here to check out Body by Science, and get re-sculpting yours!
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Ice Cream vs Fruit Sorbet – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing ice cream to fruit sorbet, we picked the ice cream.
Why?
Well, neither are great!
But the deciding factor is simple: ice cream has more nutrients to go with its sugar.
While “fruit is good” is a very reliable truism in and of itself, sorbet tends to be made with fruit juice (or at best, purée, which for these purposes is more or less the same) and sugar. The small vitamin content is nowhere near enough to make up for this. The fiber having been removed by juicing or puréeing, the fruit juice with added sugar is basically shooting glucose and fructose into your veins while doing little else.
Fruit juice (even freshly-pressed) is nowhere near in the same league of healthiness as actual fruit!
See also: Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same?
Ice cream, meanwhile, is also not exactly a health food. But it has at least some minerals worth speaking of (mostly: calcium, potassium, phosphorus), and some fat that a) can be used b) helps slightly slow the absorption of the sugars.
In short: please do not consider either of these things to be a health food. But if you’re going to choose one or the other (and are not lactose-intolerant), then ice cream has some small positives to go with its negatives.
Take care!
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Can’t Do The Middle Splits? Two Anatomy Tricks To Get You Deeper In Seconds
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Flexibility coach Aleks Brzezinska—who first got flexible as an adult herself—explains how:
To the floor
First, understand four factors that affect how easy or hard the middle splits will be:
- Muscles: flexibility partly depends on inherent muscle stretchability, which varies between individuals. Stretching regularly works for everyone, but heavy weightlifting can hinder flexibility progress.
- Ligaments: ligament length and mobility affect joint flexibility. Longer ligaments offer more mobility but less stability, increasing injury risk. Hypermobile people tend to progress faster in flexibility. Ligaments can be stretched over time, though excessive stretching without strengthening can reduce joint stability, so it’s important to do both.
- Hormones: estrogen makes connective tissue more flexible, improving flexibility in women.
- Bone Structure: the biggest limitation in achieving full middle splits can be bone structure, particularly hip socket depth and femur shape. Shallower sockets and longer femur necks generally allow more movement. Children have more cartilage in the hips, which does aid flexibility if trained early, but it’s not too late for the rest of us, either.
Now, the two tips:
- Arch your back while attempting the split. This can help you slide deeper into the position regardless of your current level.
- Conversely, round your back and sit your hips backward. This shifts the stretch from the inner thighs to the hamstrings and mimics a wide pancake position, helping those whose hip anatomy prevents full middle splits.
For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Test For Whether You Will Be Able To Achieve The Splits
Take care!
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Okra vs Onion – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing okra to onion, we picked the okra.
Why?
Of these two mildly pungent vegetables, there is a clear winner in every category:
In terms of macros, okra has nearly 2x the fiber and protein, while onion has very slightly more carbs. An easy win for okra.
In the category of vitamins, okra has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, C, E, K, and choline, while onion is not higher in any vitamins. A complete win for okra.
When it comes to minerals, okra has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while onion is not higher in any minerals. another overwhelming win for okra.
Adding up the sections makes for easy arithmetic; okra wins the day. Still, by all means enjoy either or both—it would surely be sad world if all onions were replaced with okra!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
What’s Your Plant Diversity Score?
Enjoy!
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Intermittent Fasting for Women Over 50 – by Emma Sanchez
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Intermittent fasting is promoted as a very healthful (evidence-based!) way to trim the fat and slow aging, along with other health benefits. But, physiologically and especially metabolically, the average woman is quite different from the average man! And most resources are aimed at men. So, what’s the difference?
Emma Sanchez gives an overview not just of intermittent fasting, but also, how it goes with specifically female physiology. From hormonal cycles, to different body composition and fat distribution, to how we simply retain energy better—which can be a mixed blessing!
We’re given advice about how to optimize all those things and more.
She also covers issues that many writers on the topic of intermittent fasting will tend to shy away from, such as:
- mood swings
- risk of eating disorder
- impact on cognitive thinking
…and she does this evenly and fairly, making the case for intermittent fasting while acknowledging potential pitfalls that need to be recognized in order to be managed.
Lastly, the “over 50” thing. This is covered in detail quite late in the book, but there are a lot of changes that occur (beyond the obvious!), and once again, Sanchez has tips and tricks for holding back the clock where possible, and working with it rather than against it, when appropriate.
All in all, a great book for any woman over 50, or really also for women under 50, especially if that particular milestone is on the horizon.
Get your copy of Intermittent Fasting for Women over 50 from Amazon today!
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