The Squat Bible – by Dr. Aaron Horschig
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You probably know the following three things about squats:
- Squatting is great for the health in many ways
- There are many different ways to squat
- Not all of them are correct, and some may even do harm
Dr. Aaron Horschig makes the case for squats being a movement first, and an exercise second. To this end, he takes us on a joint-by-joint tour of the anatomy of squatting, so that we get it right from top to toe.
Or rather: from toe to top, since he starts with the best foundation.
What this means is that if you’ve struggled to squat because you find some discomfort in your ankles, or a weakness in the knees, or you can’t get your back quite right, Dr. Horschig will have a fix for you. He also takes a realistic look about how people’s anatomy varies from person to person, and what differences this makes to how we each should best squat.
The explanations are clear and so are the pictures—we recommend getting the color print edition (linked), as the image quality is better than the black and white and/or Kindle edition.
Bottom-line: squats are one of the single best exercises we can do for our health—but we can miss out on benefits (or even do ourselves harm) if we don’t do them well. This book is a comprehensive reference resource for making sure we get the most out of our squatting ability.
Click here to check out The Squat Bible, and master this all-important movement!
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The Sugary Food That Lowers Blood Sugars
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It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!
Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!
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
❝Loved the article on goji berries! I read they are good for blood sugars, is that true despite the sugar content?❞
Most berries are! Fruits that are high in polyphenols (even if they’re high in sugar), like berries, have a considerable net positive impact on glycemic health:
- Polyphenols and Glycemic Control
- Polyphenols and their effects on diabetes management: A review
- Dietary polyphenols as antidiabetic agents: Advances and opportunities
And more specifically:
Dietary berries, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes: an overview of human feeding trials
Read more: Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same?
As for goji berries specifically, they’re very high indeed in polyphenols, and also have a hypoglycemic effect, i.e., they lower blood sugar levels (and as a bonus, increases HDL (“good” cholesterol) levels too, but that’s not the topic here):
❝The results of our study indicated a remarkable protective effect of LBP in patients with type 2 diabetes. Serum glucose was found to be significantly decreased and insulinogenic index increased during OMTT after 3 months administration of LBP. LBP also increased HDL levels in patients with type 2 diabetes. It showed more obvious hypoglycemic efficacy for those people who did not take any hypoglycemic medicine compared to patients taking hypoglycemic medicines. This study showed LBP to be a good potential treatment aided-agent for type 2 diabetes.❞
- LBP = Lycium barbarum polysaccharide, i.e. polysaccharide in/from goji berries
- OMTT = Oral metabolic tolerance test, a test of how well the blood sugars avoid spiking after a meal
For more about goji berries (and also where to get them), for reference our previous article is at:
Goji Berries: Which Benefits Do They Really Have?
Take care!
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Cherries vs Blueberries – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing cherries to blueberries, we picked the blueberries.
Why?
It was close! And blueberries only won by virtue of taking an average value for cherries; we could have (if you’ll pardon the phrase) cherry-picked tart cherries for extra benefits that’d put them ahead of blueberries. That’s how close it is.
In terms of macros, they are almost identical, so nothing to set them apart there.
In the category of vitamins, they are mostly comparable except that blueberries have a lot more vitamin K, and cherries have a lot more vitamin A. Since vitamin K is the vitamin that’s scarcer in general, we’ll call blueberries’ vitamin K content a win.
Blueberries do also have about 6x more vitamin E, with a cup of blueberries containing about 10% of the daily requirement (and cherries containing almost none). Another small win for blueberries.
When it comes to minerals, they are mostly comparable; the largest point of difference is that blueberries contain more manganese while cherries contain more copper; nothing to decide between them here.
We’re down to counting amino acids and antioxidants now, so blueberries have a lot more cystine and tyrosine. They also have slightly more of amino acids that they both only have trace amounts of. And as for antioxidants? Blueberries contain notably more quercetin.
So, blueberries win the day—but if we had specified tart cherries rather than taking an average, they could have come out on top. Enjoy both!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
Take care!
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Rice vs Buckwheat – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing rice to buckwheat, we picked the buckwheat.
Why?
It’s a simple one today:
- The vitamin and mineral profiles are very similar, so neither of these are a swaying factor
- In terms of macros, rice is higher in carbohydrates while buckwheat is higher in fiber
- Buckwheat also has more protein, but not by much
- Buckwheat has the lower glycemic index, and a lower insulin index, too
While buckwheat cannot always be reasonably used as a substitute for rice (often because the texture would not work the same), in many cases it can be.
And if you love rice, well, so do we, but variety is also the spice of life indeed, not to mention important for good health. You know that whole “eat 30 different plants per week” thing? Grains count in that tally! So substituting buckwheat in place of rice sometimes seems like a very good bet.
Not sure where to buy it?
Here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon
Want to know more about today’s topic?
Check out: Carb-Strong or Carb-Wrong?
Enjoy!
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Putting a Halt to Feeling Lost, Anxious, Stressed & Unhappy
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Starting From the Middle
Today’s video (below) dives straight into the heart of the issue, examining the victim mindset, with Dr. Gabor Maté immediately, and quite vulnerably, sharing his personal experiences conquering feelings of despair and anxiety.
As one of the comments on the video says, Dr. Maté is a “person who teaches about something because they experience it themselves”. And it shows through his approach.
With raw honesty, Dr. Maté empathizes with those grappling with inner turmoil, offering hope by emphasizing the power of healing in the present moment.
What is His Method?
Explained simply, Dr. Maté urges individuals to seek trauma-informed care and therapies that address underlying wounds; he emphasizes the pitfalls of relying solely on medication, and instead highlights the idea that triggers can be seen as opportunities for self-reflection and growth. He urges individuals to approach their triggers with compassionate curiosity rather than self-judgment.
In short, Dr Maté’s empathetic approach immediately calms the viewer, whilst providing knowledge crucial to self-improvement.
Let this video act as a reminder that we should take our mental health as seriously as our general health.
How was the video? If you’ve discovered any great videos yourself that you’d like to share with fellow 10almonds readers, then please do email them to us!
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Built from Broken – by Scott Hogan, CPT, COES
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So many exercise programs come with the caveat “consult your doctor before engaging in any new activity”, and the safe-but-simple “do not try to train through an injury”.
Which is all very well and good for someone in fabulous health who sprained an ankle while running and can just wait a bit, but what about those of us carrying…
- long-term injuries
- recurring injuries
- or just plain unfixable physical disabilities?
That’s where physiotherapist Scott Hogan comes in. The subtitle line goes:
❝A Science-Based Guide to Healing Painful Joints, Preventing Injuries, and Rebuilding Your Body❞
…but he does also recognize that there are some things that won’t bounce back.
On the other hand… There are a lot of things that get written off by doctors as “here’s some ibuprofen” that, with consistent mindful training, could actually be fixed.
Hogan delivers again and again in this latter category! You’ll see on Amazon that the book has thousands of 4- and 5-star ratings and many glowing reviews, and it’s for a reason or three:
- The book first lays a foundational knowledge of the most common injuries likely to impede us from training
- It goes on to give step-by-step corrective exercises to guide your body through healing itself. Your body is trying to heal itself anyway; you might as well help it accomplish that!
- It finishes up with a comprehensive (and essential) guide to train for the strength and mobility that will help you avoid future problems.
In short: a potentially life-changing book if you have some (likely back- or joint-related) problem that needs overcoming!
And if you don’t? An excellent pre-emptive guide all the same. This is definitely one of those “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure” things.
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Gut Health and Anxiety
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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
❝I’d like to read articles on gut health and anxiety❞
We hope you caught yesterday’s edition of 10almonds, which touched on both of those! Other past editions you might like include:
We’ll be sure to include more going forward, too!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
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