This 1-Day-Per-Week Routine Increases Strength By 50%
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A recent study tested a 12-minute workout on adults over 60. One group trained once weekly, the other twice-weekly. Both groups gained similar strength.
Six days rest, and…
One of the exercises in the study used leg press equipment that you probably don’t have at home, but similar results can be replicated with bodyweight or dumbbell-based eccentric exercises, thus:
- two up, one down sit-to-stand: from sitting, stand up with two legs, then slowly lower yourself back down with one. Do 5 reps per leg, 3 sets.
- two up, one down bridge: from a lying bridge position, lift using both legs, slowly lower yourself back down with one. Do to fatigue, 3 sets.
- two up, one down calf raise: on a step, raise with both feet, slowly lower yourself back down with one. Do 1 rep, 3 sets each leg.
- two up, one down shoulder flexion: lift a dumbbell with both hands, slowly lower it back down with one. Do 6–15 reps per arm, 3 sets.
- two up, one down bicep curl: help curl the dumbbell up with the opposite hand, then lower it back down with the working arm only. Do 6–15 reps, 3 sets per arm.
Per the study, this should take about 12 minutes. Then you’re all good for another week. We can all find 12 minutes per week, right?
For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like:
How Useful Is “Exercise Snacking”, Really?
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The Best Sleeping Positions If You Have Scoliosis
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Scoliosis does not, as a general rule of thumb, make life easier. Sleeping is certainly no exception.
But there are ways to do it and save your back:
S is for
scoliosissleepWith scoliosis, sleeping on your back gives the most even pressure distribution along your spine; you can make it more comfortable by placing a cushion under your knees if you like. Further, a butterfly-shaped pillow (designed for side-sleeping) can be wrapped around your neck to stop your head dropping sideways, creating a more supported feeling,
If you prefer to side-sleep (which is generally considered best for brain health, and sleeping on one’s right side is specifically best for heart health), then use a head cushion that keeps your head aligned with your spine, since scoliosis makes pressure distribution asymmetrical when you lie on your side.
Assuming you have only one scoliosis curve, then you’ll have a concave (to which the spine turns) and a convex side (away from which the spine turns):
- Lying on your convex side lets gravity drag your curve into the mattress and increase pressure
- Lying on your concave side draws your spine into a more supported position
If sleeping on your concave side is uncomfortable too, you can put a rolled towel or similarly-shaped cushion under your waist to lift it and improve alignment.
But what if you have an S-curve? First, identify the driving curve (thoracic or lumbar) using an X-ray or other means of diagnosis, or just the direction of your hip shift (hips shift away from the dominant curve), and aim to sleep on the concave side of your dominant curve:
- Thoracic-dominant example: with a major right thoracic curve, you would sleep on your left (concave) side and support your lumbar curve with a rolled blanket; avoid supporting your thoracic curve because it puts pressure on your ribs
- Lumbar-dominant example: if your lumbar curve is bigger, sleep on the concave side of your lumbar curve (as in the video example: sleep on your right side)
- Double-major curves: when thoracic and lumbar Cobb angles are similar, go by the lumbar curve because your thoracic region is protected by your ribcage while your lumbar region sinks more deeply into the mattress
If in doubt, of course go with what feels comfortable for you, and ideally coordinate with your doctor and/or physiotherapist.
For more on all of this plus some very helpful visual demonstrations, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Sleeping Positions & Your Heart & Brain
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Cabbage vs Kale – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing cabbage to kale, we picked the kale.
Why?
Here we go again, pitting Brassica oleracea vs Brassica oleracea. One species, many cultivars! Notwithstanding being the same species, there are important nutritional differences:
In terms of macros, kale has more protein, carbs, and fiber, and even has the lower glycemic index, not that cabbage is bad at all, of course. But nominally, kale gets the win on all counts in this category.
In the category of vitamins, cabbage has more of vitamins B5 and choline, while kale has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B7, B9, C, E, and K. An easy win for kale!
When it comes to minerals, it’s even more decisive: cabbage is not higher in any minerals, while kale has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. Another clear win for kale.
Adding up the sections makes it very clear that kale wins the day, but we’d like to mention that cabbage was good in all of these metrics too; kale was just better!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
21 Most Beneficial Polyphenols & What Foods Have Them
Enjoy!
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Anti-Inflammatory Pineapple Fried Rice
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.
Fried rice is not most people’s go-to when one thinks of health food, but this one is. It’s packed with plenty of nutrients, many of which are anti-inflammatory, but the real star is the pineapple (with its high bromelain content and thus particularly potent benefits).
You will need
- 2½ cups cooked wholegrain basmati rice (you can use our Tasty Versatile Rice recipe if you don’t already have leftovers to use)
- 1 cup pineapple chunks
- ½ red onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- ½ cup sweetcorn
- ½ peas
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 2 serrano peppers, chopped (omit if you don’t care for heat)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp black pepper, coarse ground
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
1) Fry the red onion, serrano peppers, and ginger in the coconut oil over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes.
2) Add the pineapple, bell pepper, sweetcorn, peas, and black pepper, stirring frequently, for about another 3 minutes.
3) Add the rice, stirring gently but thoroughly, until fully reheated and mixed in.
4) Serve, garnishing with the green onions.
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:
- Eat To Beat Inflammation
- Ginger Does A Lot More Than You Think
- Black Pepper’s Impressive Anti-Cancer Arsenal (And More)
- Bromelain vs Inflammation & Much More
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How Mood Drugs & Sleep Problems Affect Women’s Hormones
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.
…and other items from this week’s health news:
Sleep, drugs, and mixed messages
Most people know that irregular sleep, shift work, jet lag, and artificial light at night can disturb one’s circadian rhythm, but menstrual cycles? Yes, that too!
How this happens: it’s because the timing systems are deeply connected; the brain’s “master clock” interacts with reproductive systems, linking daily and monthly cycles. Furthermore, shorter daylight lengthens reproductive cycles, while longer daylight shortens them, showing sensitivity to seasonal changes—or anything your body might reasonably mistake for a seasonal change (given the ubiquity of bright lights these days).
The same study also found that mood stabilizers have hormonal side effects: lithium, used for bipolar disorder, can lengthen circadian rhythms and disrupt hormonal cycles.
You may be wondering: is this of any relevance to me, postmenopause? And the answer is: it depends, because if you’re on HRT, chances are your body will still adapt to a monthly cycle—even without ova to ovulate (and so forth), the hypothalamus will still regulate the metabolism of your estrogen, no matter whether that estrogen came from your ovaries or a pharmacy. However, the symptoms should be much less severe, and you shouldn’t experience bleeding after the first 6 months or so.
Read in full: How disrupted sleep and mood drugs impact women’s hormonal and mental health
Related: The Other Circadian Rhythms
Long COVID extra bad for many women
Long COVID, short end of the stick? It certainly seems so:
Researchers (Dr. Jacqueline Maybin et al.) have found that women with long COVID face higher risk of abnormal uterine bleeding, with symptoms like fatigue, headaches, and muscle pain worsening during perimenstrual and proliferative phases.
How this happens: Dr. Maybin and her team found a cluster of immune cells in the endometrium of affected women, pointing to inflammation as a likely mechanism rather than ovarian hormone disruption. Which is not too shocking, all things considered (long COVID being an ongoing systemic response to an infection long after it should have been necessary), but it’s good to know.
And, in terms of “what we know”, the science for this one is about as sure as science ever is about anything, as it came from three approaches—data from 12,187 women, a three-month clinical follow-up of women with long COVID, and an analysis of blood and endometrial samples.
Since long COVID affects 3–7% of the global population and is twice as common in women, this is pretty important—not just as trivia, but for practical reasons too; it means that menstrual cycle phases should be factored into long COVID biomarkers (something the researchers also called for in their paper).
Read in full: Study reveals bidirectional relationship between long COVID and menstrual disorders
Related: What Can Be Done About Long COVID?
A reasonable, yet unexpected, extra cancer risk
Researchers (Dr. Mariah Bilalaga et al.) found that nonadherence to cervical screenings (i.e., simply not getting it done when invited/recommended to do so by healthcare providers) went up since the pandemic—most likely a side effect of people initially consciously avoiding unnecessarily going to places where one might get infected, and then developing a new habit around same, whether or not the habit is consciously upheld or just habit now for many.
However, while COVID does continue to be risk, so is cancer, and recommendations are to go get screenings when invited/recommended all the same.
Somehow, awareness of the HPV vaccine (that helps prevent cervical cancer, because most cervical cancer is caused by that virus) also dropped, which hasn’t helped cervical cancer numbers stay under control, either:
Read in full: Nonadherence to cervical cancer screening increased after COVID-19 pandemic
Related: Everything you need to know about cervical cancer
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The 5 Love Languages Gone Wrong
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Levelling up the 5 love languages
The saying “happy wife; happy life” certainly goes regardless of gender, and if we’re partnered, it’s difficult to thrive in our individual lives if we’re not thriving as a couple. So, with the usual note that mental health is also just health, let’s take a look at getting beyond the basics of a well-known, often clumsily-applied model:
The 5 love languages
You’re probably familiar with “the 5 love languages”, as developed by Dr. Gary Chapman. If not, they are:
- Acts of Service
- Gift-Giving
- Physical Touch
- Quality Time
- Words of Affirmation
The idea is that we each weight these differently, and problems can arise when a couple are “speaking a different language”.
So, is this a basic compatibility test?
It doesn’t have to be!
We can, if we’re aware of each other’s primary love languages, make an effort to do a thing we wouldn’t necessarily do automatically, to ensure they’re loved the way they need to be.
But…
What a lot of people overlook is that we can also have different primary love languages for giving and for receiving. And, missing that can mean that even taking each other’s primarily love languages into account, efforts to make a partner feel loved, or to feel loved oneself, can miss 50% of the time.
For example, I (your writer here today, hi) could be asked my primary love language and respond without hesitation “Acts of Service!” because that’s my go-to for expressing love.
I’m the person who’ll run around bringing drinks, do all the housework, and without being indelicate, will tend towards giving in the bedroom. But…
A partner trying to act on that information to make me feel loved by giving Acts of Service would be doomed to catastrophic failure, because my knee-jerk reaction would be “No, here, let me do that for you!”
So it’s important for partners to ask each other…
- Not: “what’s your primary love language?” ❌
- But: “what’s your primary way of expressing love?” ✅
- And: “which love language makes you feel most loved?” ✅
For what it’s worth, I thrive on Words of Affirmation, so thanks again to everyone who leaves kind feedback on our articles! It lets me know I provided a good Act of Service
So far, so simple, right? You and your partner (or: other person! Because as we’ve just seen, these go for all kinds of dynamics, not just romantic partnerships) need to be aware of each other’s preferred love languages for giving and receiving.
But…
There’s another pitfall that many fall into, and that’s assuming that the other person has the same idea about what a given love language means, when there’s more to clarify.
For example:
- Acts of Service: is it more important that the service be useful, or that it took effort?
- Gift-Giving: is it better that a gift be more expensive, or more thoughtful and personal?
- Physical Touch: what counts here? If we’re shoulder-to-shoulder on the couch, is that physical touch or is something more active needed?
- Quality Time: does it count if we’re both doing our own thing but together in the same room, comfortable in silence together? Or does it need to be a more active and involved activity together? And is it quality time if we’re at a social event together, or does it need to be just us?
- Words of Affirmation: what, exactly, do we need to hear? For romantic partners, “I love you” can often be important, but is there something else we need to hear? Perhaps a “because…”, or perhaps a “so much that…”, or perhaps something else entirely? Does it no longer count if we have to put the words in our partner’s mouth, or is that just good two-way communication?
Bottom line:
There’s a lot more to this than a “What’s your love language?” click-through quiz, but with a little application and good communication, this model can really resolve a lot of would-be problems that can grow from feeling unappreciated or such. And, the same principles go just the same for friends and others as they do for romantic partners.
In short, it’s one of the keys to good interpersonal relationships in general—something critical for our overall well-being!
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5 Steps To Quit Sugar Easily
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.
Sugar is one of the least healthy things that most people consume, yet because it’s so prevalent, it can also be tricky to avoid at first, and the cravings can also be a challenge. So, how to quit it?
Step by step
Dr. Mike Hansen recommends the following steps:
- Be aware: a lot of sugar consumption is without realizing it or thinking about it, because of how common it is for there to be added sugar in things we might purchase ready-made, even supposedly healthy things like yogurts, or easy-to-disregard things like condiments.
- Recognize sugar addiction: a controversial topic, but Dr. Hansen comes down squarely on the side of “yes, it’s an addiction”. He wants us to understand more about the mechanics of how this happens, and what it does to us.
- Reduce gradually: instead of going “cold turkey”, he recommends we avoid withdrawal symptoms by first cutting back on liquid sugars like sodas, juices, and syrups, before eliminating solid sugar-heavy things like candy, sugar cookies, etc, and finally the more insidious “why did they put sugar in this?” added-sugar products.
- Find healthy alternatives: simple like-for-like substitutions; whole fruits instead of juices/smoothies, for example. 10almonds tip: stuffing dates with an almond each makes it very much like eating chocolate, experientially!
- Manage cravings: Dr. Hansen recommends distraction, and focusing on upping other healthy habits such as hydration, exercise, and getting more vegetables.
For more on each of these, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
- Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same?
- Mythbusting The Not-So-Sweet Science Of Sugar Addiction
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
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