Small Pleasures – by Ryan Riley
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When Hippocrates said “let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food”, he may or may not have had this book in mind.
In terms of healthiness, this one’s not the very most nutritionist-approved recipe book we’ve ever reviewed. It’s not bad, to be clear!
But the physical health aspect is secondary to the mental health aspects, in this one, as you’ll see. And as we say, “mental health is also just health”.
The book is divided into three sections:
- Comfort—for when you feel at your worst, for when eating is a chore, for when something familiar and reassuring will bring you solace. Here we find flavor and simplicity; pastas, eggs, stews, potato dishes, and the like.
- Restoration—for when your energy needs reawakening. Here we find flavors fresh and tangy, enlivening and bright. Things to make you feel alive.
- Pleasure—while there’s little in the way of health-food here, the author describes the dishes in this section as “a love letter to yourself; they tell you that you’re special as you ready yourself to return to the world”.
And sometimes, just sometimes, we probably all need a little of that.
Bottom line: if you’d like to bring a little more joie de vivre to your cuisine, this book can do that.
Click here to check out Small Pleasures, and rekindle joy in your kitchen!
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Is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, right? Can dancing or twerking really bring on labour?
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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is back in the news this week in a podcast discussing her viral “baby mama” video.
The video was made four years ago when she gave birth to daughter Lilibet, but only released recently. It shows the duchess in hospital, heavily pregnant, dancing and twerking to bring on labour. Her husband, Prince Harry, dances too.
She wrote on Instagram:
Both of our children were a week past their due dates […] so when spicy food, all that walking, and acupuncture didn’t work – there was only one thing left to do!
The video follows the trend of other celebrities sharing similar videos of themselves dancing while heavily pregnant.
So does the Duchess of Sussex have a point? Can dancing really bring on labour?
First, how about dancing during pregnancy?
Exercise is recommended during pregnancy, and while some higher-impact exercises may need to be moderated, it carries minimal risk for healthy women and their babies. In fact, evidence shows regular exercise during pregnancy is associated with a variety of benefits.
Exercise can lead to a lower risk of gestational diabetes, caesarean section, the use of forceps and vacuum during birth and perinatal mental health problems, as well as quicker postpartum recovery.
While pregnant women might more often gravitate towards a brisk walk, some laps in the pool, or a group exercise class, dancing is a good option too. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has even listed dance as one of the forms of exercise found to be safe and beneficial during pregnancy.
The movements of dance involve the hips and pelvic area (especially twerking) which may help the baby get into a more optimal position and tone the pelvic floor, though the evidence for this is lacking.
Choose any form of dancing you like – even belly dancing. In a small qualitative study with two pregnant women, belly dancing was found to be joyful and empowering, boosting feelings of wellbeing.
You can dance any time during pregnancy but you may need to adapt your dance moves as the pregnancy advances and your growing belly gets in the way.
If you have risk factors such as bleeding it’s best to be cautious and discuss any planned dancing with your health-care provider.
Music can also play an important role in mental health, as well as reducing pain, blood pressure and heart rate. So the combination of exercise with music, in the form of dance, could have added benefits.
Exercise is recommended during pregnancy – so why not try dancing? sandsun/Shutterstock What about dancing to induce labour, and during labour?
Meghan is not the first woman to report dancing to induce their labour, but this is all anecdotal. There’s no scientific evidence to show dancing is an effective way to bring on labour.
There is perhaps slightly more evidence suggesting benefits once labour has started.
Many women seek non-pharmacological options (not involving medications) during labour. Especially early in labour, dancing may decrease the intensity of pain and lead women to feel more satisfied and in control of their labour.
In one study, 60 women were randomly allocated to either dance during labour, or not. The dancing group had significantly lower pain scores and higher satisfaction than the control group.
And again, music can lower levels of pain in early labour. So combining relaxing music with some movement could be a good thing.
Dancing to your comfort levels during labour could be helpful due to the combination of pelvic movements, being upright, moving the body rhythmically and changing the position of the body frequently.
Evidence shows being upright and moving during labour is beneficial as it enables the pelvis to open up fully to let the baby through and reduces the length of labour.
Being upright and moving could also help transfer some pressure from the baby’s head onto the cervix, which can stimulate prostaglandin, a key chemical involved in progressing labour.
It’s been suggested dancing during labour could help get the baby into a better position for delivery and therefore help labour to proceed more smoothly and quickly. But ultimately we don’t have reliable evidence to substantiate these hypotheses.
So, did Meghan induce her labour with dance?
It’s unclear if dancing helped to induce the duchess’ labour as she was in hospital and may have later had a medical or surgical induction.
Labour can be medically induced with hormones, by using a balloon-shaped catheter placed in the woman’s cervix to open it up, or by breaking the bag of water around the baby.
Alternatively, Meghan’s labour may have eventually begun naturally without her dancing having played a role if she chose to wait another few days.
However, the joy on her face and connection and support of her husband Prince Harry is a good way to increase oxytocin, a hormone that stimulates contractions. This could have helped too.
Meghan may have been on the right track, but we need more research before we can confidently recommend dancing to bring on or during labour.
In the meantime, while there’s no evidence to show dancing is effective for inducing labour, it’s highly unlikely to have any downsides – and it may contribute to a more positive childbirth experience. So, if you feel inclined, I say dance away.
Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery, Associate Dean Research and HDR, Midwifery Discipline Leader, Western Sydney University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Built to Move – by Kelly starrett & Juliet Starrett
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In our everyday lives, for most of us anyway, it’s not too important to be able to run a marathon or leg-press a car. Rather more important, however, are such things as:
- being able to get up from the floor comfortably
- reach something on a high shelf without twinging a shoulder
- being able to put our socks on without making a whole plan around this task
- get accidentally knocked by an energetic dog or child and not put our back out
- etc
Starrett and Starrett, of “becoming a supple leopard” fame, lay out for us how to make sure our mobility stays great. And, if it’s not already where it needs to be, how to get there.
The “ten essential habits” mentioned in the subtitle “ten essential habits to help you move freely and live fully”, in fact also come with ten tests. No, not in the sense of arduous trials, but rather, mobility tests.
For each test, it’s explained to us how to score it out of ten (this is an objective assessment, not subjective). It’s then explained how to “level up” whatever score we got, with different advices for different levels of mobility or immobility. And if we got a ten, then of course, we just build the appropriate recommended habit into our daily life, to keep it that way.
The writing style is casual throughout, and a strong point of the book is its very clear illustrations, too.
Bottom line: if you’d like to gain/maintain good mobility (at any age), this book gives a very reliable outline for doing so.
Click here to check out Built to Move, and take care of your body!
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Basil vs Dandelion Greens – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing basil to dandelion greens, we picked the dandelions.
Why?
You may be thinking: basil is just a herb; we don’t eat enough for the nutritional values to be relevant!
And to this we say: there’s nothing stopping you :p Herbs are full of flavor and goodness and there is really no reason to deny yourself. On this note, check out the sabzi khordan (traditional Levantine herb platter), linked below. You’ll start thinking about herbs in new ways, and you can thank us later!
Now, in terms of macros, dandelion greens have notably more fiber and carbs, making it the better option in this category, on the strength of the fiber.
In the category of vitamins, basil has more of vitamins B3, B5, and B9, while dandelion greens have more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B7, C, E, and K, winning a second round easily.
Looking at minerals, basil has more copper, magnesium, manganese, and zinc, while dandelion greens have more calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium, for a 4:4 tie in this round.
In other considerations, both are excellent sources of polyphenols, but basil has 232mg/100g while dandelion greens have 386mg/100g, making them the clear winner in this category.
Adding up the sections makes for an overwhelming overall win for dandelions, but by all means do enjoy either or both, as diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
- Holy Basil: What Does (And Doesn’t) It Do? ← this is not culinary basil, but it’s an interesting read nevertheless
- 21 Most Beneficial Polyphenols & What Foods Have Them
- Invigorating Sabzi Khordan (A Traditional Levantine Platter Of Herbs & Accompaniments)
Enjoy!
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Biological Age Test: Can You Pass These 3?
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Alisa Szyman gives us some insight:
On your feet!
In fact, biological age is not one thing but quite a lot of things, each of which can age at different rates.
See for example: Age & Aging: What Can (And Can’t) We Do About It?
Today we’re focusing on “functional aging”, that is to say, “how much is aging affecting your ability to physically perform critical movements?”.
With that in mind, here are the three functional aging tests and what they actually tell us:
- Sit-to-rise test: lower yourself to the floor and stand back up, without using your hands, knees, or arms, starting from 10 points and subtracting 1 for each support used and 0.5 for loss of balance, with scores of 8–10 indicating strong overall function, 6–7 showing mild decline, 3–5 signalling significant decline, and below 3 linked to up to a 5x higher mortality risk, while each 1-point improvement is associated with a 21% reduction in all-cause mortality.
- Single-leg balance test: stand on one leg with your hands on your hips, and time how long you can hold it (eyes open, then closed), where poorer performance—especially with eyes closed—indicates declines in your vestibular system and proprioception, both key components of neuromuscular aging and strong predictors of mortality. Not least of all because of the old “fall over, break a hip, decline rapidly and die” factor.
- Deep squat hold test: hold a full deep squat with your heels flat on the floor and your chest upright for 10–30 seconds, where success reflects good hip, knee, ankle, and spine mobility, while compensations (heels lifting, falling backwards, rounding your lower back, or inability to squat) show up specific joint or mobility limitations that you might want to work on.
Passing all three (while over the age of 40) suggests your biological age is younger than your chronological age, passing two highlights one weak area to improve, and passing one or none indicates multiple declining systems—but all are highly trainable regardless of age.
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:
Mobility For Now & For Later: Train For The Marathon That Is Your Life!
Take care!
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Chiropractors have been banned again from manipulating babies’ spines. Here’s what the evidence actually says
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Chiropractors in Australia will not be able to perform spinal manipulation on children under the age of two once more, following health concerns from doctors and politicians.
But what is the spinal treatment at the centre of the controversy? Does it work? Is there evidence of harm?
We’re a team of researchers who specialise in evidence-based musculoskeletal health. I (Matt) am a registered chiropractor, Joshua is a registered physiotherapist and Giovanni trained as a physiotherapist.
Here’s what the evidence says.
Dmitry Naumov/Shutterstock Remind me, how did this all come about?
A Melbourne-based chiropractor posted a video on social media in 2018 using a spring-loaded device (known as the Activator) to manipulate the spine of a two-week-old baby suspended upside down by the ankles.
The video sparked widespread concerns among the public, medical associations and politicians. It prompted a ban on the procedure in young children. The Victorian health minister commissioned Safer Care Victoria to conduct an independent review of spinal manipulation techniques on children.
Recently, the Chiropractic Board of Australia reinstated chiropractors’ authorisation to perform spinal manipulation on babies under two years old. But this week, it backflipped, following heavy criticism from medical associations and politicians.
What is spinal manipulation?
Spinal manipulation is a treatment used by chiropractors and other health professionals such as doctors, osteopaths and physiotherapists.
It is an umbrella term that includes popular “back cracking” techniques.
It also includes more gentle forms of treatment, such as massage or joint mobilisations. These involve applying pressure to joints without generating a “cracking” sound.
Does spinal manipulation in babies work?
Several international guidelines for health-care professionals recommend spinal manipulation to treat adults with conditions such as back pain and headache as there is an abundance of evidence on the topic. For example, spinal manipulation for back pain is supported by data from nearly 10,000 adults.
For children, it’s a different story. Safer Care Victoria’s 2019 review of spinal manipulation found very few studies testing whether this treatment was safe and effective in children.
Studies were generally small and were of poor quality. Some of those small, poor-quality studies, suggest spinal manipulation provides a very small benefit for back pain, colic and potentially bedwetting – some common reasons for parents to take their child to see a chiropractor. But overall, the review found the overall body of evidence was very poor.
Spinal manipulation doesn’t seem to help young children with an ear infection. MIA Studio/Shutterstock However, for most other children’s conditions chiropractors treat – such as headache, asthma, otitis media (a type of ear infection), cerebral palsy, hyperactivity and torticollis (“twisted neck”) – there did not appear to be a benefit.
The number of studies investigating the effectiveness of spinal manipulation on babies under two years of age was even smaller.
There was one high-quality study and two small, poor quality studies. These did not show an appreciable benefit of spinal manipulation on colic, otitis media with effusion (known as glue ear) or twisted neck in babies.
Is spinal manipulation on babies safe?
In terms of safety, most studies in the review found serious complications were extremely rare. The review noted one baby or child dying (a report from Germany in 2001 after spinal manipulation by a physiotherapist). The most common complications were mild in nature such as increased crying and soreness.
However, because studies were very small, they cannot tell us anything about the safety of spinal manipulation in a reliable way. Studies that are designed to properly investigate if a treatment is safe typically include thousands of patients. And these studies have not yet been done.
Why do people see chiropractors?
Safer Care Victoria also conducted surveys with more than 20,000 people living in Australia who had taken their children under 12 years old to a chiropractor in the past ten years.
Nearly three-quarters said that was for treatment of a child aged two years or younger.
Nearly all people surveyed reported a positive experience when they took their child to a chiropractor and reported that their child’s condition improved with chiropractic care. Only a small number of people (0.3%) reported a negative experience, and this was mostly related to cost of treatment, lack of improvement in their child’s condition, excessive use of x-rays, and perceived pressure to avoid medications.
Many of the respondents had also consulted their GP or maternity/child health nurse.
What now for spinal manipulation in children?
At the request of state and federal ministers, the Chiropractic Board of Australia confirmed that spinal manipulation on babies under two years old will continue to be banned until it discusses the issue further with health ministers.
Many chiropractors believe this is unfair, especially considering the strong consumer support for chiropractic care outlined in the Safer Care Victoria report, and the rarity of serious reported harms in children.
Others believe that in the absence of evidence of benefit and uncertainty around whether spinal manipulation is safe in children and babies, the precautionary principle should apply and children and babies should not receive spinal manipulation.
Ultimately, high quality research is urgently needed to better understand whether spinal manipulation is beneficial for the range of conditions chiropractors provide it for, and whether the benefit outweighs the extremely small chance of a serious complication.
This will help parents make an informed choice about health care for their child.
Matt Fernandez, Senior lecturer and researcher in chiropractic, CQUniversity Australia; Giovanni E. Ferreira, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney, and Joshua Zadro, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Sydney Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Science-Based Alternative Pain Relief
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When Painkillers Aren’t Helping, These Things Might
Maybe you want to avoid painkillers, or maybe you’ve already maxed out what you can have, and want more options as an extra help against the pain.
Today we’ll look at some science-backed alternative pain relief methods:
First: when should we try to relieve pain?
There is no such thing as “this pain is not too much”. The correct amount of pain is zero. Maybe your body won’t let you reach zero, but more than that is “too much” already.
You don’t have to be suffering off the scale to deserve relief from pain!
So: if it hurts, then if you can safely get relief from the pain, it’s already wise to do so.
A couple of things we covered previously
CBD and THC are technically drugs, but are generally considered “alternative” pain relief, so we’ll give a quick mention here:
Short version:
- CBD can treat some kinds of treatment-resistant pain well (others, not so much—try it and find out if it works for you)
- THC can offer some people respite not found from other methods—but beware, because there are many health risks to consider.
Acupuncture
Pain relief appears to be its strongest suit:
Pinpointing The Usefulness Of Acupuncture
Cloves
Yes, just like you can get from the supermarket.
In its medicinal uses, it’s most well-known as a toothache remedy, but it has a local analgesic effect wherever you put it (i.e., apply it topically to where the pain is), thanks to its eugenol content:
Boswellia (frankincense)
The resin of the Boswellia serrata tree, this substance has an assortment of medicinal properties, including pain relief, anti-inflammatory effect, and psychoactive (anxiolytic and antidepressant) effects:
Frankincense is psychoactive: new class of antidepressants might be right under our noses
And as for physical pain? Here’s how it faired against the pain of osteoarthritis (and other OA symptoms, but we’re focusing on pain today), for example:
Here’s an example product on Amazon, but feel free to shop around as there are many options, including for example this handy roll-on
Further reading
Intended for chronic pain, but in large part applicable to acute pain also:
Managing Chronic Pain (Realistically!)
Take care!
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