Skincare Habits To Stop
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Dr. Sam Ellis, dermatologist, explains:
Mistakes to avoid
There are quite a number of things that many people do that unintentionally sabotage their skin health; here’s what to do about that:
- stop overexfoliating your skin: many people exfoliate too often, leading to redness, breakouts, and dullness instead of the desired glow; Dr. Ellis recommends removing exfoliants and actives for at least two weeks, then reintroduce exfoliants just 1–2 times a week based on your skin’s needs.
- how to exfoliate properly: use gentler products like mandelic acid serums for sensitive skin, or stronger ones like glycolic acid peels less frequently; always balance with moisturizers and avoid combining with retinoids on the same night.
- stop constantly changing your skincare routine: your skin needs consistency to respond well; using the same few products long-term is more effective than always trying the latest thing—only make changes for major climate shifts.
- stop picking at your skin: picking causes scarring, red or brown marks, and prolongs healing; instead, use hydrocolloid pimple patches to protect and heal blemishes faster and reduce the urge to pick. She also advises that supplementing with n-acetyl cysteine (NAC) can help reduce compulsive skin picking behavior.
- stop smoking and reduce* alcohol: both accelerate skin aging, dullness, dehydration, and wrinkles; cutting back or stopping can make a visible difference in skin appearance.
- don’t sleep in your makeup: this prevents your skin from recovering overnight and can clog pores; even just removing makeup without applying other skincare is better than leaving it on—micellar water is gentler than makeup wipes and recommended.
- stop skimping on sunscreen: most people underapply it; aim for two full finger lengths or ¼ teaspoon for proper coverage; if textures bother you, try lightweight non-greasy oil-based sunscreens.
*She says “reduce”, we’d advise “stop”. The fact that drinking alcohol is still considered socially normal, while smoking is not, does not change the fact that just like smoking, the only safe amount of alcohol is zero.
For more on each of these things, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
The Evidence-Based Skincare That Beats Product-Specific Hype
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How Are You, Really?
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How Are You, Really? The Free NHS Health Test
We took this surprisingly incisive 10-minute test from the UK’s famous National Health Service—the test is part of the “Better Health” programme, a free-to-all (yes, even those from/in other countries) initiative aimed at keeping people healthy enough to have less need of medical attention.
As one person who took the test wrote:
❝I didn’t expect that a government initiative would have me talking about how I need to keep myself going to be there for the people I love, let alone that a rapid-pace multiple-choice test would elicit these responses and give personalized replies in turn, but here we are❞
It goes beyond covering the usual bases, in that it also looks at what’s most important to you, and why, and what might keep you from doing the things you want/need to do for your health, AND how those obstacles can be overcome.
Pretty impressive for a 10-minute test!
Is Your Health Above Average Already? Take the Free 10-minute NHS test now!
How old are you, in your heart?
Poetic answers notwithstanding (this writer sometimes feels so old, and yet also much younger than she is), there’s a biological answer here, too.
Again free for the use of all*, here’s a heart age calculator.
*It is suitable for you if you are aged 30–95, and do not have a known complicating cardiovascular disease.
It will ask you your (UK) postcode; just leave that field blank if you’re not in the UK; it’ll be fine.
How Old Are You, In Your Heart? Take the Free 10-minute NHS test now!
(Neither test requires logging into anything, and they do not ask for your email address. The tests are right there on the page, and they give the answers right there on the page, immediately)
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A warm, wet spring means more mozzies. How to protect yourself from the diseases they spread
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Mosquito bites are annoying. They can also have deadly consequences. So what diseases do mosquitoes in Australia carry?
And with warmer weather on its way and rain expected to continue, how can you prepare for the coming mosquito season?
Mosquitoes are deadliest animal
Mosquitoes kill more people than any other animal. Worldwide, more than half a million people die each year from mosquito bites that transmit malaria parasites.
Australia is fortunate to be free of major outbreaks of malaria, though occasional cases do occur.
The most common mosquito-borne disease in Australia is caused by Ross River virus. Around 5,000 cases are reported each year and, while never fatal, the illness can be severely debilitating. Symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain and fatigue.
Mosquito populations fluctuate year by year. A/Prof Cameron Webb (NSW Health Pathology), CC BY-NC-SA Murray Valley encephalitis virus is responsible for very rare but potentially fatal disease. It’s detected most years in northern Australia.
There has been a resurgence of the virus in southeastern parts of Australia following flooding in recent years. Mosquitoes pick up the virus from waterbirds throughout the Murray Darling Basin before they pass on the pathogen to people. Mosquito and waterbird populations both boom after flooding.
Mosquitoes in some coastal areas of Victoria can also pass on the flesh-eating bacteria that can cause Buruli ulcer.
What about Japanese encephalitis?
Japanese encephalitis virus can cause fever, headaches, vomiting and, in rare cases, death.
Over the summer of 2021-22, there were 45 cases of Japanese encephalitis in southeastern Australia. This virus was never expected to spread so widely. In some parts of Australia, people died due to mosquito bites for the first time in around 50 years.
Scientists and health authorities thought Japanese encephalitis virus would transmit in a similar way to the closely related Murray Valley encephalitis virus, with outbreaks typically occurring after flooding that provided ideal conditions for both mosquitoes and the waterbirds carrying the virus.
But we now know pigs – especially feral pigs – are in the mix too, along with a range of other animals.
With gaps in our understanding of what drives local transmission, predictions of Japanese encephalitis activity are now proving to be less reliable. This makes it hard to work out the threat it may pose this summer.
Last summer, despite the lack of any substantial rainfall, the virus turned up even though mosquito (and waterbird) populations were generally low.
The virus also wasn’t limited to those areas where we’d expect to see it. There is growing evidence it’s made its way to the east coast, with the virus detected in the suburbs of Brisbane.
Ongoing wet weather can provide ideal conditions for mosquitoes. A/Prof Cameron Webb (NSW Health Pathology), CC BY-NC-SA How will the weather impact mosquitoes this season?
Like all insects, mosquitoes thrive in warmer weather. But they also need water.
It doesn’t really matter if it’s a “wet” or “dry” summer, mosquitoes are always active. But sometimes there are more – lots more.
In most parts of Australia, there is currently no shortage of water. Some regions have had record rainfall this winter, with more on the way.
The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting above-average rainfall through to the end of the year. Once the weather warms up, it could be a “buzzy” start to mosquito season.
This doesn’t mean outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease are inevitable. But we need to be alert to the risks and how best to protect ourselves and family.
Scientists like me trap mosquitoes across Australia each summer to track changes in their abundance, as well as activity of pathogens. A/Prof Cameron Webb (NSW Health Pathology), CC BY-NC-SA Monitoring mozzies
More rain means a greater risk of mosquito-borne disease. But outbreaks aren’t easy to predict, so surveillance is critical.
Australian state and territory health authorities undertake monitoring of mosquitoes and the pathogens they carry each year. The objective is to provide an early warning of elevated risk of mosquito-borne diseases. This may be due to increased mosquito activity or the detection of mosquito-borne pathogens.
Given the uncertainty around Japanese encephalitis, it’s also important to monitor locations where the virus has not yet been detected.
How to stay safe this spring and summer
There’s a lot you can do to protect yourself and family from mosquito bites and mosquito-borne disease.
A vaccine is available for those at risk of Japanese encephalitis. See your local health professional for advice on accessing the vaccine.
But there aren’t vaccines for the other local mosquito-borne diseases. Nor are there any specific treatments for these diseases. So preventing mosquito bites is the best way to protect yourself.
If you’re outdoors when mosquitoes are active, cover up with long pants, a long-sleeved shirt and covered shoes. Apply an insect repellent containing diethyltoluamide, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus to all exposed skin.
Skip the stickers, patches and wristbands, as the evidence shows they aren’t a reliable way to prevent bites.
Keep your property free of mosquito breeding grounds, too. Mosquitoes can lay eggs in any container that fills with water: a plant saucer, a bird bath, discarded plastic buckets, bottles or tins. Tip them out each week, cover them up or throw them away.
Cameron Webb, Clinical Associate Professor, School of Medical Science & Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute; Principal Hospital Scientist, University of Sydney
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Addiction Myths That Are Hard To Quit
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Which Addiction-Quitting Methods Work Best?
In Tuesday’s newsletter we asked you what, in your opinion, is the best way to cure an addiction. We got the above-depicted, below-described, interesting distribution of responses:
- About 29% said: “Addiction cannot be cured; once an addict, always an addict”
- About 26% said “Cold turkey (stop 100% and don’t look back)”
- About 17% said “Gradually reduce usage over an extended period of time”
- About 11% said “A healthier, but somewhat like-for-like, substitution”
- About 9% said “Therapy (whether mainstream, like CBT, or alternative, like hypnosis)”
- About 6% said “Peer support programs and/or community efforts (e.g. church etc)”
- About 3% said “Another method (mention it in the comment field)” and then did not mention it in the comment field
So what does the science say?
Addiction cannot be cured; once an addict, always an addict: True or False?
False, which some of the people who voted for it seemed to know, as some went on to add in the comment field what they thought was the best way to overcome the addiction.
The widespread belief that “once an addict, always an addict” is a “popular truism” in the same sense as “once a cheater, always a cheater”. It’s an observation of behavioral probability phrased as a strong generalization, but it’s not actually any kind of special unbreakable law of the universe.
And, certainly the notion that one cannot be cured keeps membership in many 12-step programs and similar going—because if you’re never cured, then you need to stick around.
However…
❝What is the definition of addiction?
Addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.
Prevention efforts and treatment approaches for addiction are generally as successful as those for other chronic diseases.❞
~ American Society of Addiction Medicine
Or if we want peer-reviewed source science, rather than appeal to mere authority as above, then:
❝What is drug addiction?
Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite adverse consequences. It is considered a brain disorder, because it involves functional changes to brain circuits involved in reward, stress, and self-control. Those changes may last a long time after a person has stopped taking drugs.
Addiction is a lot like other diseases, such as heart disease. Both disrupt the normal, healthy functioning of an organ in the body, both have serious harmful effects, and both are, in many cases, preventable and treatable.❞
~ Nora D. Volkow (Director, National Institute of Drug Abuse)
Read more: Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction
In short: part of the definition of addiction is the continued use; if the effects of the substance are no longer active in your physiology, and you are no longer using, then you are not addicted.
Just because you would probably become addicted again if you used again does not make you addicted when neither the substance nor its after-effects are remaining in your body. Otherwise, we could define all people as addicted to all things based on “well if they use in the future they will probably become addicted”.
This means: the effects of addiction can and often will last for long after cessation of use, but ultimately, addiction can be treated and cured.
(yes, you should still abstain from the thing to which you were formerly addicted though, or you indeed most probably will become addicted again)
Cold turkey is best: True or False?
True if and only if certain conditions are met, and then only for certain addictions. For all other situations… False.
To decide whether cold turkey is a safe approach (before even considering “effective”), the first thing to check is how dangerous the withdrawal symptoms are. In some cases (e.g. alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and others), the withdrawal symptoms can kill.
That doesn’t mean they will kill, so knowing (or being!) someone who quit this way does not refute this science by counterexample. The mortality rates that we saw while researching varied from 8% to 37%, so most people did not die, but do you really want (yourself or a loved one) to play those odds unnecessarily?
See also: Detoxification and Substance Abuse Treatment
Even in those cases where it is considered completely safe for most people to quit cold turkey, such as smoking, it is only effective when the quitter has appropriate reliable medical support, e.g.
- Without support: 3–5% success rate
- With support: 22% success rate
And yes, that 22% was for the “abrupt cessation” group; the “gradual cessation” group had a success rate of 15.5%. On which note…
Gradual reduction is the best approach: True or False?
False based on the above data, in the case of addictions where abrupt cessation is safe. True in other cases where abrupt cessation is not safe.
Because if you quit abruptly and then die from the withdrawal symptoms, then well, technically you did stay off the substance for the rest of your life, but we can’t really claim that as a success!
A healthier, but somewhat like-for-like substitution is best: True or False?
True where such is possible!
This is why, for example, medical institutions recommend the use of buprenorphine (e.g. Naloxone) in the case of opioid addiction. It’s a partial opioid receptor agonist, meaning it does some of the job of opioids, while being less dangerous:
It’s also why vaping—despite itself being a health hazard—is recommended as a method of quitting smoking:
Similarly, “zero alcohol drinks that seem like alcohol” are a popular way to stop drinking alcohol, alongside other methods:
This is also why it’s recommended that if you have multiple addictions, to quit one thing at a time, unless for example multiple doctors are telling you otherwise for some specific-to-your-situation reason.
Take care!
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Tight Hips Won’t Go Away? Here’s Why & What To Do Instead
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.
Mobility coach Alisa Zuravskaja shows us how:
The most common stretching mistake
Well two most common mistakes, but they are connected. In few words:
- Passive stretching alone often fails: simply holding a hip flexor stretch for 30 seconds or so will not usually relieve persistent tightness, because it doesn’t address muscle activation, strength, or stability, and without those things, the tightness will return to try to save you from moving too far and hurting yourself.
- That in turn leads to other weaknesses: a related common mistake is, paradoxically, letting your pelvis tilt forward or your knee move too far forwards, causing the stretch to target your quadriceps more than your hip flexors. Firstly, this would not happen if the correct muscles were activated, and secondly, it means you are not even passive-stretching the muscles you need to stretch, let alone active-stretching them.
Here are three ways to do it better:
- Loaded hip flexor stretch: kneel on a comfortable surface, align your hips, tuck your pelvis under, and firmly squeeze your glute on the kneeling-leg side. If you cannot feel your glute, tense your entire back leg first, then isolate your glute by consciously relaxing the other muscles. Once engaged, press your kneeling knee into the floor without moving, to isometrically strengthen your hip flexor in a lengthened position.
- This glute contraction encourages your nervous system to reduce tension in your hip flexor while it is being strengthened.
- Glute bridge hold: lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat, and a cushion or yoga block between your knees. Tuck your pelvis, squeeze your glutes, then lift your hips and hold for 60 seconds. Squeezing the cushion activates your adductors, improves pelvic stability, and improves glute activation so that your hip flexors do not compensate.
- If you feel your lower back working instead, then the best thing to do is to lower your hips slightly. If you feel your hamstrings more than your glutes, then in that case, just move your feet closer to your hips and you should be back on track.
- Dead bug exercise: lie on your back with your arms pointing towards the ceiling and your hips and knees bent to 90°. Press your lower back into the floor, exhale to draw your ribs down, and gently brace your abdomen, to activate your deep core muscles while keeping your spine still. Begin by lowering one heel slowly towards the floor, before progressing to lowering the opposite arm and leg together.
- This one might seem like we’re going off on a tangent, but people with tight hip flexors often have poor core stability, causing the hip flexors to compensate by stabilizing the spine. Strengthening your core reduces this compensation, and thus allows your hip flexors to relax.
For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like:
The Most Underrated Hip Mobility Exercise (Not Stretching)
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Overactive Bladder? How’s Your Magnesium Depletion Score?
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Overactive bladder (OAB) gets increasingly common after a certain age. This is often put down to “the body is getting older and weaker, so naturally the bladder is too, as are its associated muscles”.,
And while that’s true, it’s not exactly useful, is it? Happily, new science has shone a light on a previously underexamined consideration:
0Mg!
If you have zero magnesium (Mg) in your in body then well, you’re dead, because that’s an essential mineral.
But, low magnesium? That’s just normal. And by “normal” here we do mean in literal sense of: “it’s the statistical norm”, and without implication of “and that’s fine” (because it’s not).
A study looking at data from 28,621 participants aged 20–80 found that each each 1-point increase in magnesium depletion score (MgDS) was linked to 9% higher risk of OAB.
You may be wondering: how do I calculate my magnesium depletion score / do I need a blood test or something?
So, here’s how it’s calculated, step-by-step:
❝The MgDS is a validated clinical index designed to reflect chronic magnesium depletion risk by combining multiple clinical factors known to influence magnesium homeostasis. MgDS calculation includes the following step-by-step criteria:
(1) Diuretic use: Participants using diuretics scored 1 point; no diuretic use scored 0 points.
(2) PPI use: Participants using PPIs scored 1 point; non-users scored 0 points.
(3) Renal function assessment: Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) categories scored as follows: eGFR ≥ 90 mL/min/1.73 m2 scored 0 points; eGFR ≥ 60 and < 90 mL/min/1.73 m² scored 1 point; eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m² scored 2 points.
(4) Alcohol consumption: Heavy alcohol use (defined as > 2 drinks/day for men and > 1 drink/day for women) scored 1 point; other consumption levels (never, former, mild, moderate) scored 0 points.❞Or more simply, start with a score of zero, and then…
- Do you use diuretics? If so, add 1 point
- Do you use PPIs? If so, add 1 point
- How are your kidneys?
- Great = add 0 points
- Neither amazing nor terrible = add 1 point
- Terrible = add 2 points
- Multiple units of alcohol per day? Add 1 point
If unsure how to guesstimate your kidney health, check out: Are your Kidneys Ok? Detect Early To Protect Kidney Health (Here’s How)
Now, in the bullet points above we’ve simplified the alcohol a bit (men typically have a little more wiggle-room there than women, but it’s not something that should be counted on, and as for the eGFR scores, we’ve gone for a “make an educated guess” analog in lieu of the lab test that’d be needed for that one. However, even a ±2 inaccuracy in your score due to guessing on that will still give you a general idea of which end of the scale you’re on, and it also means…
In practical terms:
- Do you use diuretics? If so, consider whether that’s best for you
- Do you use PPIs? If so, consider whether that’s best for you
- Are you neglecting your kidneys? If so, consider being more attentive to them
- Are you drinking regularly? If so, consider not doing that
Now, we are not the boss of you, and also some of those are things for conversations between you and your doctor (especially the first two).
But it does provide a good guideline for reference, and possible things to improve!
To read the paper in full, see: Association between magnesium depletion score and overactive bladder among U.S. Adults using data from NHANES 2005–2018
You can also, of course, regardless of your magnesium depletion score, enjoy magnesium-rich foods and/or take supplemental magnesium.
Note: this association does not prove causality. For example, it could be that OAB and MgDS are both caused by the same third thing, or it could be that the OAB causes the high MgDS. However, since most people are deficient in magnesium, supplementation is rarely a bad idea anyway.
So, with that in mind:
But: Which Magnesium? (And: When?) ← it makes a difference! Especially as the most widely-sold kind of magnesium (magnesium oxide, which is cheapest) is barely usable by the human body. The article we’ve just linked to discusses the pros and cons of alternatives magnesium glycinate, magnesium citrate, magnesium lactate, and magnesium gluconate. Choose wisely!
And if you’re relying on diet, do be aware of: Foods Linked To Urinary Incontinence In Middle-Age (& Foods That Avert It)
Want to do more?
Check out these previous articles of ours:
Pelvic Floor Exercises (Not Kegels!) To Prevent Urinary Incontinence
and
Keeping Your Kidneys Happy: It’s About More Than Just Hydration! ← important at all ages, but especially relevant after 60
Take care!
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Fennel vs Onion – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing fennel to onion, we picked the fennel.
Why?
First note, in case you didn’t see the picture: we are talking about white onions here (also called brown onions, by virtue of their attire).
Looking at the macros, fennel has nearly 2x the fiber and a little more protein, while onion has more carbs. An easy win in this category for the fennel.
In the category of vitamins, fennel has more of vitamins A, B2, B3, B5, B9, C, E, K, and choline (most of them by generous margins and some by especially large margins, we are talking, for example, 480x the vitamin A, 29x the vitamin E, and 157x the vitamin K), while onions have more of vitmains B1 and B6. Another clear win for fennel.
When it comes to minerals, fennel has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while onion is not higher in any minerals. No prizes for guessing: fennel wins this category too.
You may be curious as to how they add up on the polyphenol front, and the answer is, they don’t, much. Wonderful as these two vegetables are, an abundance of polyphenols is not amongst their strengths; fennel has some lignans and onion has some flavonols, but we’re talking tiny numbers here (in contrast, red onion would have aced it with 120mg/100g quercetin, amongst others, but red onion wasn’t on trial today).
Adding up the sections makes a clear win for fennel today.
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
What’s Your Plant Diversity Score?
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