Sesame Chocolate Fudge
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If you’d like a sweet treat without skyrocketing your blood sugars with, well, rocket fuel… Today’s recipe can help you enjoy a taste of decadence that’s not bad for your blood sugars, and good for your heart and brain.
You will need
- ½ cup sesame seeds
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (plus a little extra for the pan)
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
1) Lightly toast the sesame seeds in a pan until golden brown. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2) Put them in a food processor, and blend on full speed until they start to form a dough-like mixture. This may take a few minutes, so be patient. We recommend doing it in 30-second sessions with a 30-second rest between them, to avoiding overheating the motor.
3) Add the rest of the ingredients and blend to combine thoroughly—this should go easily now and only take 10 seconds or so, but judge it by eye.
4) Grease an 8″ square baking tin with a little coconut oil, and add the mixture, patting it down to fill the tin, making sure it is well-compressed.
5) Allow to chill in the fridge for 6 hours, until firm.
6) Turn the fudge out onto a chopping board, and cut into the size squares you want. Serve, or store in the fridge until ready to serve.
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:
- Tasty Polyphenols For Your Heart & Brain
- Cacao vs Carob – Which is Healthier?
- Can Saturated Fats Be Healthy?
Take care!
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The Science Of New Year’s Pre-Resolutions
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The Science Of New Year’s Pre-Resolutions
There’s a military dictum that “prior preparation and planning prevents piss-poor performance”.
Would it surprise you to know that soldiers going on the attack are not focused on the goal? Rather, they are focused on the process.
With drills and mnemonics, everything that can be controlled for in advance is; every action, every reaction, everything that can go wrong, and all the “if x then y” decisions in between pre-battle PREWAR and PAWPERSO and post-battle PACESDO (all mnemonic acronyms; the content is not important here but the principle is).
In short: take Murphy’s Law into account now, and plan accordingly!
The same goes for making your plans the winning kind
If you want your resolutions to work, you may need to make pre-resolutions now, so that you’re properly prepared:
- Do you want to make an exercise habit? Make sure now that you have the right clothes/shoes/etc, make sure that they fit you correctly, make sure you have enough of them that you can exercise when one set’s in the wash, etc.
- What grace will you allow yourself if tired, unwell, busy? What’s your back-up plan so that you still do what you can at those times when “what you can” is legitimately a bit less?
- If it’s an outdoors plan, what’s your plan for when it’s rainy? Snowy? Dangerously hot?
- What are the parameters for what counts? Make it measurable. How many exercise sessions per week, what duration?
- Do you want to make a diet habit? Make sure that you have in the healthy foods that you want to eat; know where you can and will get things. We’re often creatures of habit when it comes to shopping, so planning will be critical here!
- Do you want to cut some food/drink/substance out? Make sure you have a plan to run down or otherwise dispose of your current stock first. And make sure you have alternatives set up, and if it was something you were leaning on as a coping strategy of some kind (e.g. alcohol, cannabis, comfort-eating, etc), make sure you have an alternative coping strategy, too!
See also: How To Reduce Or Quit Alcohol
We promised science, so here it comes
Approach-oriented resolutions work better than avoidance-oriented ones.
This means: positively-framed resolutions work better than negatively-framed ones.
On a simple level, this means that, for example, resolving to exercise three times per week is going to work better than resolving to not consume alcohol.
But what if you really want to quit something? Just frame it positively. There’s a reason that Alcoholics Anonymous (and similar Thing Anonymous groups) measure days sober, not relapses.
So it’s not “I will not consume alcohol” but “I will get through each day alcohol-free”.
Semantics? Maybe, but it’s also science:
Why January the 1st? It’s a fresh start
Resolutions started on the 1st of January enjoy a psychological boost of a feeling of a fresh start, a new page, a new chapter.
Similar benefits can be found from starting on the 1st of a month in general, or on a Monday, or on some date that is auspicious to the person in question (religious fasts tied to calendar dates are a fine example of this).
Again, this is borne-out by science:
The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior
Make it a habit
Here be science:
How do people adhere to goals when willpower is low? The profits (and pitfalls) of strong habits
As for how to do that?
How To Really Pick Up (And Keep!) Those Habits
Trim the middle
No, we’re not talking about your waistline. Rather, what Dr. Ayelet Fischbach refers to as “the middle problem”:
❝We’re highly motivated at the beginning. Over time, our motivation declines as we lose steam. To the extent that our goal has a clear end point, our motivation picks up again toward the end.
Therefore, people are more likely to adhere to their standards at the beginning and end of goal pursuit—and slack in the middle. We demonstrate this pattern of judgment and behavior in adherence to ethical standards (e.g., cheating), religious traditions (e.g., skipping religious rituals), and performance standards (e.g., “cutting corners” on a task).
We also show that the motivation to adhere to standards by using proper means is independent and follows a different pattern from the motivation to reach the end state of goal pursuit❞
Read: The end justifies the means, but only in the middle
How to fix this, then?
Give yourself consistent, recurring, short-term goals, with frequent review points. That way, it’s never “the middle” for long:
The fresh start effect: temporal landmarks motivate aspirational behavior
See also:
How do people protect their long-term goals from the influence of short-term motives or temptations?
Finally…
You might like this previous main feature of ours that was specifically about getting oneself through those “middle” parts:
How To Keep On Keeping On… Long Term!
Enjoy!
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- Do you want to make an exercise habit? Make sure now that you have the right clothes/shoes/etc, make sure that they fit you correctly, make sure you have enough of them that you can exercise when one set’s in the wash, etc.
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Hazelnuts vs Pistachios – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing hazelnuts to pistachios, we picked the hazelnuts.
Why?
An argument could be made for either, depending on what we prioritize! So there was really no wrong answer here today, but it is good to know what each nut’s strengths are:
In terms of macros, pistachios have more fiber, carbs, protein, and (mostly healthy) fat. That does make them the “more food per food” option, but it’s worth noting that while hazelnuts have more fiber, they also have a higher margin of difference when it comes to their greater carb count, and resultantly, hazelnuts do have the lower glycemic index. That said, they’re still both low-GI foods, so we’ll call this section a win for pistachios overall.
When it comes to vitamins, hazelnuts have more of vitamins B3, B5, B9, C, E, K, and choline, while pistachios have more of vitamins A, B1, B2, and B6. So, a fair 7:4 win for hazelnuts here.
In the category of minerals, hazelnuts have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, and zinc, while pistachios have more phosphorus, potassium, and selenium. A clear 6:3 win for hazelnuts.
In short, both are good sources of many nutrients, so choose according to what you want to prioritize, or better yet, enjoy both.
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
Why You Should Diversify Your Nuts
Take care!
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Wildfires ignite infection risks, by weakening the body’s immune defences and spreading bugs in smoke
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Over the past several days, the world has watched on in shock as wildfires have devastated large parts of Los Angeles.
Beyond the obvious destruction – to landscapes, homes, businesses and more – fires at this scale have far-reaching effects on communities. A number of these concern human health.
We know fire can harm directly, causing injuries and death. Tragically, the death toll in LA is now at least 24.
But wildfires, or bushfires, can also have indirect consequences for human health. In particular, they can promote the incidence and spread of a range of infections.
Effects on the immune system
Most people appreciate that fires can cause burns and smoke inhalation, both of which can be life-threatening in their own right.
What’s perhaps less well known is that both burns and smoke inhalation can cause acute and chronic changes in the immune system. This can leave those affected vulnerable to infections at the time of the injury, and for years to come.
Burns induce profound changes in the immune system. Some parts go into overdrive, becoming too reactive and leading to hyper-inflammation. In the immediate aftermath of serious burns, this can contribute to sepsis and organ failure.
Other parts of the immune system appear to be suppressed. Our ability to recognise and fight off bugs can be compromised after sustaining burns. Research shows people who have experienced serious burns have an increased risk of influenza, pneumonia and other types of respiratory infections for at least the first five years after injury compared to people who haven’t experienced burns.
Wildfire smoke is a complex mixture containing particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, ozone, toxic gases, and microbes. When people inhale smoke during wildfires, each of these elements can play a role in increasing inflammation in the airways, which can lead to increased susceptibility to respiratory infections and asthma.
Research published after Australia’s Black Summer of 2019–20 found a higher risk of COVID infections in areas of New South Wales where bushfires had occurred weeks earlier.
We need more research to understand the magnitude of these increased risks, how long they persist after exposure, and the mechanisms. But these effects are thought to be due to sustained changes to the immune response.
Microbes travel in smoky air
Another opportunity for infection arises from the fire-induced movement of microbes from niches they usually occupy in soils and plants in natural areas, into densely populated urban areas.
Recent evidence from forest fires in Utah shows microbes, such as bacteria and fungal spores, can be transported in smoke. These microbes are associated with particles from the source, such as burned vegetation and soil.
There are thousands of different species of microbes in smoke, many of which are not common in background, non-smoky air.
Only a small number of studies on this have been published so far, but researchers have shown the majority of microbes in smoke are still alive and remain alive in smoke long enough to colonise the places where they eventually land.
How far specific microbes can be transported remains an open question, but fungi associated with smoke particles have been detected hundreds of miles downwind from wildfires, even weeks after the fire.
So does this cause human infections?
A subset of these airborne microbes are known to cause infections in humans.
Scientists are probing records of human fungal infections in relation to wildfire smoke exposure. In particular, they’re looking at soil-borne infectious agents such as the fungi Coccidioides immitis and Coccidioides posadasii which thrive in dry soils that can be picked up in dust and smoke plumes.
These fungi cause valley fever, a lung infection with symptoms that can resemble the flu, across arid western parts of the United States.
A study of wildland firefighters in California showed high rates of valley fever infections, which spurred occupational health warnings including recommended use of respirators when in endemic regions.
A California-based study of the wider population showed a 20% increase in hospital admissions for valley fever following any amount of exposure to wildfire smoke.
However, another found only limited evidence of excess cases after smoke exposure in wildfire-adjacent populations in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
These contrasting results show more research is needed to evaluate the infectious potential of wildfire smoke from this and other fungal and bacterial causes.
Staying safe
Much remains to be learned about the links between wildfires and infections, and the multiple pathways by which wildfires can increase the risk of certain infections.
There’s also a risk people gathering together after a disaster like this, such as in potentially overcrowded shelters, can increase the transmission of infections. We’ve seen this happen after previous natural disasters.
Despite the gaps in our knowledge, public health responses to wildfires should encompass infection prevention (such as through the provision of effective masks) and surveillance to enable early detection and effective management of any outbreaks.
Christine Carson, Senior Research Fellow, School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia and Leda Kobziar, Professor of Wildland Fire Science, University of Idaho
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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The Happy Menopause – by Jackie Lynch
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.
The author, a nutritionist, takes the approach that just as no two menopauses are exactly the same, how it is managed needs to be personalized too.
Thus, rather than simply “do this, do that”, she sets about talking the reader through identifying what things are likely to influence what symptoms, and then then actually testing them to see if a given adjustment is helpful or not. Lest this sound like a lot of work, she does invariably start from a place of “Most women…”, which means that on average, the reader will still get the right thing first try. However, in the cases of not being average, this book has the less common cause-and-effect pairings down as well. To this end, the book is mostly arranged by symptom, so it’s quite easy to find a particular thing one might be looking to fix.
As for HRT, she takes the very respectable position that she is a nutritionist and as such, that matter is not her wheelhouse, and so she restrains herself to her own field of expertise, nutrition. Her intent is that the information in this book should be useful to all, HRT or no HRT.
The style is very light pop science, making this very easily readable and comprehensible to all.
Bottom line: if you have unwanted menopause symptoms, and would like to not be suffering from those, this book offers a natural approach, so give it a try!
Click here to check out The Happy Menopause, and menopause happily!
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What families should know about whooping cough
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What you need to know
- Whooping cough is a bacterial respiratory illness that can cause long-term symptoms and even death.
- Two types of vaccines protect against it: The DTap vaccine is given to babies and children up to 6 years old, while the Tdap vaccine is given to children 7 years and older and adults.
- If you or your child has symptoms of whooping cough, isolate them from vulnerable family members and seek treatment early to reduce the risk of serious illness.
Whooping cough, also called pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory illness that’s particularly dangerous for babies. Cases are now at least four times as high as they were at this time last year. Fortunately, vaccines are extremely effective at preventing the disease across age groups.
Read on to learn about the symptoms and risks of whooping cough, who should get vaccinated, and what to do when symptoms appear.What are the symptoms of whooping cough?
Early symptoms of whooping cough typically appear five to 10 days after exposure and may include a runny or stuffy nose, a low fever, and a mild cough. One to two weeks later, some people may experience extreme coughing fits that can cause shortness of breath, trouble sleeping, vomiting, fatigue, and rib fractures. These fits usually last one to six weeks, but they can last up to 10 weeks after infection.
About one in three babies under 1 year old who contract whooping cough require hospitalization, as they may experience life-threatening pauses in breathing (called apnea), pneumonia, and other complications. Children and adults who have asthma or are immunocompromised are also more likely to develop severe symptoms.
Which vaccines protect against whooping cough, and who is eligible?
Two types of vaccines protect against whooping cough: The DTap vaccine is given to babies and children up to 6 years old, while the Tdap vaccine is given to children 7 years and older and adults. Both vaccines protect against infections from diptheria, tetanus, and pertussis.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that pregnant people receive a single dose of the Tdap vaccine between 27 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, as this lowers the risk of whooping cough in babies younger than 2 months old by 78 percent.
Multiple doses are required for the best protection. Learn more about DTaP and Tdap vaccine schedules from the CDC, and talk to your health care provider about how many doses you and your children need.
What should families do when whooping cough symptoms appear?
If you or your child has symptoms of whooping cough, isolate the infected person from vulnerable family members. It’s also important to seek treatment early to reduce the risk of serious illness. Health care providers typically prescribe antibiotics to those recovering at home.
Over-the-counter cough and cold medicine is not recommended for children under 4 years old. However, limiting smoke, dust, and chemical fumes at home and using a humidifier can reduce coughing. If you are caring for someone with whooping cough who exhibits pauses in breathing or develops gray or blue skin, call 911 immediately.
For more information, talk to your health care provider.Don’t Forget…
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Blackberries vs Blueberries – 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 blackberries to blueberries, we picked the blackberries.
Why?
They’re both great! But the humble blackberry stands out (and is an example of “foods that are darker are often more nutrient-dense”).
In terms of macronutrients, they’re quite similar, being both berry fruits that are mostly water, but blackberries do have 2x the fiber (and for what it’s worth, 2x the protein, though this is a small number obviously), while blueberries have 2x the carbohydrates. An easy win for blackberries.
When it comes to vitamins, blackberries have notably more of vitamin A, B3, B5, B9, C, and E, as well as choline, while blueberries have a little more of vitamins B1, B2, and B6. A fair win for blackberries.
In the category of minerals, blackberries have a lot more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc. Blueberries are not higher in any minerals. Another easy win for blackberries.
Blueberries are famous for their antioxidants, but blackberries actually equal them. The polyphenolic content varies from one fruit to another, but they are both loaded with an abundance (thousands) of antioxidants, especially anthocyanins. Blackberries and blueberries tie in this category.
Adding up the sections makes for an easy, easy win for blackberries—but diversity is always best, so enjoy both!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
- Cherries vs Blueberries – Which is Healthier?
- Strawberries vs Cherries – Which is Healthier?
- Strawberries vs Raspberries – Which is Healthier?
- Goji Berries vs Blueberries – Which is Healthier?
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
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