Strategic Wellness

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Strategic Wellness: planning ahead for a better life!

This is Dr. Michael Roizen. With hundreds of peer-reviewed publications and 14 US patents, his work has been focused on the importance of lifestyle factors in healthy living. He’s the Chief Wellness Officer at the world-famous Cleveland Clinic, and is known for his “RealAge” test and related personalized healthcare services.

If you’re curious about that, you can take the RealAge test here.

(they will require you inputting your email address if you do, though)

What’s his thing?

Dr. Roizen is all about optimizing health through lifestyle factors—most notably, diet and exercise. Of those, he is particularly keen on optimizing nutritional habits.

Is this just the Mediterranean Diet again?

Nope! Although: he does also advocate for that. But there’s more, he makes the case for what he calls “circadian eating”, optimally timing what we eat and when.

Is that just Intermittent Fasting again?

Nope! Although: he does also advocate for that. But there’s more:

Dr. Roizen takes a more scientific approach. Which isn’t to say that intermittent fasting is unscientific—on the contrary, there’s mountains of evidence for it being a healthful practice for most people. But while people tend to organize their intermittent fasting purely according to convenience, he notes some additional factors to take into account, including:

  • We are evolved to eat when the sun is up
  • We are evolved to be active before eating (think: hunting and gathering)
  • Our insulin resistance increases as the day goes on

Now, if you’ve a quick mind about you, you’ll have noticed that this means:

  • We should keep our eating to a particular time window (classic intermittent fasting), and/but that time window should be while the sun is up
  • We should not roll out of bed and immediately breakfast; we need to be active for a bit first (moderate exercise is fine—this writer does her daily grocery-shopping trip on foot before breakfast, for instance… getting out there and hunting and gathering those groceries!)
  • We should not, however, eat too much later in the day (so, dinner should be the smallest meal of the day)

The latter item is the one that’s perhaps biggest change for most people. His tips for making this as easy as possible include:

  • Over-cater for dinner, but eat only one portion of it, and save the rest for an early-afternoon lunch
  • First, however, enjoy a nutrient-dense protein-centric breakfast with at least some fibrous vegetation, for example:
    • Salmon and asparagus
    • Scrambled tofu and kale
    • Yogurt and blueberries

Enjoy!

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  • How To Regrow Receding Gums

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    One of the problems with the human form is that our teeth evolved to last us for the whole of our life, with plenty of room to spare before our eventual death at the ripe old age of about 35 on average. Dr. Ellie Phillips advises those of us who might be a bit older than that, on how we can avoid becoming “too long in the tooth”—in other words, how to keep our gums, and thus our teeth, in place and healthy.

    Getting to the root of the problem

    The single biggest cause of gum recession is an acidic environment in the mouth, which harms teeth and gums alike. This acidic environment is produced not merely by consuming acid foods or drinks, but also (and much more often, and more problematically) by sugary foods and drinks, which are not necessarily themselves acidic, but they feed bacteria that release acids as a by-product of their metabolism. If we consume an acidic food or drink, it’s there for a moment, but if we then salivate and/or take a drink of water, it’s pretty much gone in a few seconds. But those bacteria when we feed them sugar? They are there to stay unless we do something more about them than just drink some water.

    Other contributing factors to gum recession include teeth grinding, and (ironically) certain oral care products, especially many artificial teeth whiteners.

    In case you were wondering: no, brushing will not* generally cause or even worsen gum recession, but flossing can exacerbate it if it’s already underway.

    *unless, of course, you are using one of the whiteners we mentioned above

    What to do about it: Dr. Phillips recommends:

    • use a moderately firm toothbrush to massage gums and promote blood flow
    • avoid acidic oral products and homemade remedies even if they’re not acidic but can be caustic, such as baking soda
    • rebuild your gums’ and teeth’s protective biofilm (yes, there are “good bacteria” that are supposed to be there) with proper brushing
    • avoid cleanings that are more intensive than brushing—skip flossing until your gums have recovered, too
    • adjust your diet to avoid acids and (especially) sugars

    10almonds note: she also recommends the use of xylitol to promote a healthy oral environment; we don’t recommend that, as while it may be great for the teeth, studies have found it to be bad for the heart.

    For more on all of her advices and a bit more of the science of it, enjoy:

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

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like to read:

    Take care!

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  • Forget Ringing the Button for the Nurse. Patients Now Stay Connected by Wearing One.

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    HOUSTON — Patients admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital get a monitoring device about the size of a half-dollar affixed to their chest — and an unwitting role in the expanding use of artificial intelligence in health care.

    The slender, battery-powered gadget, called a BioButton, records vital signs including heart and breathing rates, then wirelessly sends the readings to nurses sitting in a 24-hour control room elsewhere in the hospital or in their homes. The device’s software uses AI to analyze the voluminous data and detect signs a patient’s condition is deteriorating.

    Hospital officials say the BioButton has improved care and reduced the workload of bedside nurses since its rollout last year.

    “Because we catch things earlier, patients are doing better, as we don’t have to wait for the bedside team to notice if something is going wrong,” said Sarah Pletcher, system vice president at Houston Methodist.

    But some nurses fear the technology could wind up replacing them rather than supporting them — and harming patients. Houston Methodist, one of dozens of U.S. hospitals to employ the device, is the first to use the BioButton to monitor all patients except those in intensive care, Pletcher said.

    “The hype around a lot of these devices is they provide care at scale for less labor costs,” said Michelle Mahon, a registered nurse and an assistant director of National Nurses United, the profession’s largest U.S. union. “This is a trend that we find disturbing,” she said.

    The rollout of BioButton is among the latest examples of hospitals deploying technology to improve efficiency and address a decades-old nursing shortage. But that transition has raised its own concerns, including about the device’s use of AI; polls show the public is wary of health providers relying on it for patient care.

    In December 2022 the FDA cleared the BioButton for use in adult patients who are not in critical care. It is one of many AI tools now used by hospitals for tasks like reading diagnostic imaging results.

    In 2023, President Joe Biden directed the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a plan to regulate AI in hospitals, including by collecting reports of patients harmed by its use.

    The leader of BioIntelliSense, which developed the BioButton, said its device is a huge advance compared with nurses walking into a room every few hours to measure vital signs. “With AI, you now move from ‘I wonder why this patient crashed’ to ‘I can see this crash coming before it happens and intervene appropriately,’” said James Mault, CEO of the Golden, Colorado-based company.

    The BioButton stays on the skin with an adhesive, is waterproof, and has up to a 30-day battery life. The company says the device — which allows providers to quickly notice deteriorating health by recording more than 1,000 measurements a day per patient — has been used on more than 80,000 hospital patients nationwide in the past year.

    Hospitals pay BioIntelliSense an annual subscription fee for the devices and software.

    Houston Methodist officials would not reveal how much the hospital pays for the technology, though Pletcher said it equates to less than a cup of coffee a day per patient.

    For a hospital system that treats thousands of patients at a time — Houston Methodist has 2,653 non-ICU beds at its eight Houston-area hospitals — such an investment could still translate to millions of dollars a year.

    Hospital officials say they have not made any changes in nurse staffing and have no plans to because of implementing the BioButton.

    Inside the hospital’s control center for virtual monitoring on a recent morning, about 15 nurses and technicians dressed in scrubs sat in front of large monitors showing the health status of hundreds of patients they were assigned to monitor.

    A red checkmark next to a patient’s name signaled the AI software had found readings trending outside normal. Staff members could click into a patient’s medical record, showing patients’ vital signs over time and other medical history. These virtual nurses, if you will, could contact nurses on the floor by phone or email, or even dial directly into the patient’s room via video call.

    Nutanben Gandhi, a technician who was watching 446 patients on her monitor that morning, said that when she gets an alert, she looks at the patient’s health record to see if the anomaly can be easily explained by something in the patient’s condition or if she needs to contact nurses on the patient’s floor.

    Oftentimes an alert can be easily dismissed. But identifying signs of deteriorating health can be tough, said Steve Klahn, Houston Methodist’s clinical director of virtual medicine.

    “We are looking for a needle in a haystack,” he said.

    Donald Eustes, 65, was admitted to Houston Methodist in March for prostate cancer treatment and has since been treated for a stroke. He is happy to wear the BioButton.

    “You never know what can happen here, and having an extra set of eyes looking at you is a good thing,” he said from his hospital bed. After being told the device uses AI, the Montgomery, Texas, man said he has no problem with its helping his clinical team. “This sounds like a good use of artificial intelligence.”

    Patients and nurses alike benefit from remote monitoring like the BioButton, said Pletcher of Houston Methodist.

    The hospital has placed small cameras and microphones inside all patient rooms enabling nurses outside to communicate with patients and perform tasks such as helping with patient admissions and discharge instructions. Patients can include family members on the remote calls with nurses or a doctor, she said.

    Virtual technology frees up on-duty nurses to provide more hands-on help, such as starting an intravenous line, Pletcher said. With the BioButton, nurses can wait to take routine vital signs every eight hours instead of every four, she said.

    Pletcher said the device reduces nurses’ stress in monitoring patients and allows some to work more flexible hours because virtual care can be done from home rather than coming to the hospital. Ultimately it helps retain nurses, not drive them away, she said.

    Sheeba Roy, a nurse manager at Houston Methodist, said some members of the nursing staff were nervous about relying on the device and not checking patients’ vital signs as often themselves. But testing has shown the device provides accurate information.

    “After we implemented it, the staff loves it,” Roy said.

    Serena Bumpus, chief executive officer of the Texas Nurses Association, said her concern with any technology is that it can be more burdensome on nurses and take away time with patients.

    “We have to be hypervigilant in ensuring that we are not leaning on this to replace the ability of nurses to critically think and assess patients and validate what this device is telling us is true,” Bumpus said.

    Houston Methodist this year plans to send the BioButton home with patients so the hospital can better track their progress in the weeks after discharge, measuring the quality of their sleep and checking their gait.

    “We are not going to need less nurses in health care, but we have limited resources and we have to use those as thoughtfully as we can,” Pletcher said. “Looking at projected demand and seeing the supply we have coming, we will not have enough to meet demand, so anything we can do to give time back to nurses is a good thing.”

    KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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  • Coconut & Lemongrass Protein Soup

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    The main protein here is pea protein, but the soup’s health benefits don’t stop there. With healthy MCTs from the coconut, as well as phytochemical benefits from the ginger and chili, this wonderfully refreshing soup has a lot to offer.

    You will need

    • 1 can coconut milk
    • 1 cup vegetable stock (making your own, or buying a low-sodium option)
    • 1 cup frozen petits pois
    • 1 oz fresh ginger, roughly chopped
    • ½ oz lemongrass stalk, crumpled without being broken into multiple pieces
    • 1 red chili, roughly chopped
    • 1 tbsp white miso paste
    • zest and juice of 1 lime
    • Optional: garnish of your choice

    Method

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

    1) Mix the coconut milk, vegetable stock, ginger, and chili in a saucepan, and simmer for 15 minutes

    2) Remove the lemongrass and ginger (and the chili if you don’t want more heat), and add the petit pois. Bring back to a simmer for about 2 minutes more, stir in the miso paste and lime, then take off the heat.

    3) Blend the soup to a smooth purée. Since it is hot, you will need to either use a stick blender, or else a food processor that is ok with blending hot liquids (many are not, so don’t use yours unless you’re sure, as it might explode if it’s not made for that). Alternatively, you can let it cool, blend it, and then reheat it.

    4) Serve, adding a garnish if you so wish:

    Enjoy!

    Want to learn more?

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

    Take care!

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Related Posts

  • What You Should Have Been Told About The Menopause Beforehand
  • How To Boost Your Memory Immediately (Without Supplements)

    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.

    How To Boost Your Memory (Without Supplements)

    While we do recommend having a good diet and taking advantage of various supplements that have been found to help memory, that only gets so much mileage. With that in mind…

    First, how good is your memory? Take This 2-Minute Online Test

    Now, that was a test of short term memory, which tends to be the most impactful in our everyday life.

    It’s the difference between “I remember the address of the house where I grew up” (long-term memory) and “what did I come to this room to do?” (short-term memory / working memory)

    First tip:

    When you want to remember something, take a moment to notice the details. You can’t have a madeleine moment years later if you wolfed down the madeleines so urgently they barely touched the sides.

    This goes for more than just food, of course. And when facing the prospect of age-related memory loss in particular, people tend to be afraid not of forgetting their PIN code, but their cherished memories of loved ones. So… Cherish them, now! You’ll struggle to cherish them later if you don’t cherish them now. Notice the little details as though you were a painter looking at a scene for painting. Involve more senses than just sight, too!

    If it’s important, relive it. Relive it now, relive it tomorrow. Rehearsal is important to memory, and each time you relive a memory, the deeper it gets written into your long-term memory until it becomes indelible to all but literal brain damage.

    Second tip:

    Tell the story of it to someone else. Or imagine telling it to someone else! (You brain can’t tell the difference)

    And you know how it goes… Once you’ve told a story a few times, you’ll never forget it later. Isn’t your life a story worth telling?

    Many people approach memory like they’re studying for a test. Don’t. Approach it like you’re preparing to tell a story, or give a performance. We are storytelling creatures at heart, whether or not we realize it.

    What do you do when you find yourself in a room and wonder why you went there? (We’ve all been there!) You might look around for clues, but if that doesn’t immediately serve, your fallback will be retracing your steps. Literally, physically, if needs be, but at least mentally. The story of how you got there is easier to remember than the smallest bit of pure information.

    What about when there’s no real story to tell, but we still need to remember something?

    Make up a story. Did you ever play the game “My granny went to market” as a child?

    If not, it’s a collaborative memory game in which players take turns adding items to a list, “My granny went to market and bought eggs”, My granny went to market and bought eggs and milk”, “my granny went to market and bought eggs and milk and flour” (is she making a cake?), “my granny went to market and bought eggs and milk and flour and shoe polish” (what image came to mind? Use that) “my granny went to market and bought eggs and milk and flour and shoe polish and tea” (continue building the story in your head), and so on.

    When we actually go shopping, if we don’t have a written list we may rely on the simple story of “what I’m going to cook for dinner” and walking ourselves through that story to ensure we get the things we need.

    This is because our memory thrives (and depends!) on connections. Literal synapse connections in the brain, and conceptual contextual connections in your mind. The more connections, the better the memory.

    Now imagine a story: “I went to Stonehenge, but in the background was a twin-peaked mountain blue. I packed a red suitcase, placing a conch shell inside it, when suddenly I heard a trombone, and…” Ring any bells? These are example items from the memory test earlier, though of course you may have seen different things in a different order.

    So next time you want to remember things, don’t study as though for a test. Prepare to tell a story!

    Try going through the test again, but this time, ignore their instructions because we’re going to use the test differently than intended (we’re rebels like that). Don’t rush, and don’t worry about the score this time (or even whether or not you saw a given image previously), but instead, build a story as you go. We’re willing to bet that after it, you can probably recite most of the images you saw in their correct order with fair confidence.

    Here’s the link again: Take The Same Test, But This Time Make It Story-Worthy!

    Again, ignore what it says about your score this time, because we weren’t doing that this time around. Instead, list the things you saw.

    What you were just able to list was the result of you doing story-telling with random zero-context images while under time pressure.

    Imagine what you can do with actual meaningful memories of your ongoing life, people you meet, conversations you have!

    Just… Take the time to smell the roses, then rehearse the story you’ll tell about them. That memory will swiftly become as strong as any memory can be, and quickly get worked into your long-term memory for the rest of your days.

    Don’t Forget…

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  • The Seven Circles – by Chelsey Luger & Thosh Collins

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    At first glance, this can seem like an unscientific book—you won’t find links to studies in this one, for sure! However, if we take a look at the seven circles in question, they are:

    1. Food
    2. Movement
    3. Sleep
    4. Ceremony
    5. Sacred Space
    6. Land
    7. Community

    Regular 10almonds readers may notice that these seven items contain five of the things strongly associated with the “supercentenarian Blue Zones”. (If you are wondering why Native American reservations are not Blue Zones, the answer there lies less in health science and more in history and sociology, and what things have been done to a given people).

    The authors—who are Native American, yes—present in one place a wealth of knowledge and know-how. Not even just from their own knowledge and their own respective tribes, but gathered from other tribes too.

    Perhaps the strongest value of this book to the reader is in the explanation of noting the size of each of those circles, how they connect with each other, and providing a whole well-explained system for how we can grow each of them in harmony with each other.

    Or to say the same thing in sciencey terms: how to mindfully improve integrated lifestyle factors synergistically for greater efficacy and improved health-adjusted quality-of-life years.

    Bottom line: if you’re not averse to something that mostly doesn’t use sciencey terms of have citations to peer-reviewed studies peppered through the text, then this book has wisdom that’s a) older than the pyramids of Giza, yet also b) highly consistent with our current best science of Blue Zone healthy longevity.

    Click here to check out The Seven Circles, and live well!

    Don’t Forget…

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  • Focusing On Health In Our Sixties

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    It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

    Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!

    In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

    As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

    So, no question/request too big or small

    ❝What happens when you age in your sixties?❞

    The good news is, a lot of that depends on you!

    But, speaking on averages:

    While it’s common for people to describe being over 50 as being “over the hill”, halfway to a hundred, and many greetings cards and such reflect this… Biologically speaking, our 60s are more relevant as being halfway to our likely optimal lifespan of 120. Humans love round numbers, but nature doesn’t care for such.

    • In our 60s, we’re now usually the “wrong” side of the menopausal metabolic slump (usually starting at 45–55 and taking 5–10 years), or the corresponding “andropause” where testosterone levels drop (usually starting at 45 and a slow decline for 10–15 years).
    • In our 60s, women will now be at a higher risk of osteoporosis, due to the above. The risk is not nearly so severe for men.
    • In our 60s, if we’re ever going to get cancer, this is the most likely decade for us to find out.
    • In our 60s, approximately half of us will suffer some form of hearing loss
    • In our 60s, our body has all but stopped making new T-cells, which means our immune defenses drop (this is why many vaccines/boosters are offered to over-60s, but not to younger people)

    While at first glance this does not seem a cheery outlook, knowledge is power.

    • We can take HRT to avoid the health impact of the menopause/andropause
    • We can take extra care to look after our bone health and avoid osteoporosis
    • We can make sure we get the appropriate cancer screenings when we should
    • We can take hearing tests, and if appropriate find the right hearing aids for us
      • We can also learn to lip-read (this writer relies heavily on lip-reading!)
    • We can take advantage of those extra vaccinations/boosters
    • We can take extra care to boost immune health, too

    Your body has no idea how many times you’ve flown around the sun and nor does it care. What actually makes a difference to it, is how it has been treated.

    See also: Milestone Medical Tests You Should Take in Your 60s, 70s, and Beyond

    Don’t Forget…

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    Learn to Age Gracefully

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