Where Nutrition Meets Habits!

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Where Nutrition Meets Habits…

This is Claudia Canu, MSc., INESEM. She’s on a mission to change the way we eat:

Often, diet is a case of…

  • Healthy
  • Easy
  • Cheap

(choose two)

She wants to make it all three, and tasty too. She has her work cut out for her, but she’s already blazed quite a trail personally:

Nine months before turning 40 years old, I set a challenge for myself: Arrive to the day I turn 40 as the best possible version of myself, physically, mentally and emotionally.❞

~ Claudia Canu

In Her Own Words: My Journey To My Healthy 40s

And it really was quite a journey:

For those of us who’d like the short-cut rather than a nine-month quasi-spiritual journey… based on both her experience, and her academic and professional background in nutrition, her main priorities that she settled on were:

  • Making meals actually nutritionally balanced, which meant re-thinking what she thought a meal “should” be
  • Making nutritionally balanced meals that didn’t require a lot of skill and/or resources
  • That’s it!

But, easier said than done… Where to begin?

She shares an extensive list of recipes, from meals to snacks (I thought I was the only one who made coffee overnight oats!), but the most important thing from her is:

Claudia’s 10 Guiding Principles:

  1. Buy only fresh ingredients that you are going to cook yourself. If you decide to buy pre-cooked ones, make sure they do not have added ingredients, especially sugar (in all its forms).
  2. Use easy and simple cooking methods.
  3. Change ingredients every time you prepare your meals.
  4. Prepare large quantities for three or four days.
  5. Store the food separately in tightly closed Tupperware.
  6. Organize yourself to always have ready-to-eat food in the fridge.
  7. When hungry, mix the ingredients in the ideal amounts to cover the needs of your body.
  8. Chew well and take the time to taste your food.
  9. Eat foods that you like and enjoy.
  10. Do not overeat but don’t undereat either.

We have only two quibbles with this fine list, which are:

About Ingredients!

Depending on what’s available around you, frozen and/or tinned “one-ingredient” foods can be as nutritional as (if not more nutritional than) fresh ones. By “one-ingredient” foods here we mean that if you buy a frozen pack of chopped onions, the ingredients list will be: “chopped onions”. If you buy a tin of tomatoes, the ingredients will say “Tomatoes” or at most “Tomatoes, Tomato Juice”, for example.

She does list the ingredients she keeps in; the idea that with these in the kitchen, you’ll never be in the position of “oh, we don’t have much in, I guess it’s a pizza delivery night” or “well there are some chicken nuggets at the back of the freezer”.

Check Out And Plan: 10 Types Of Ingredients You Should Always Keep In Your Kitchen

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?

Preparing large quantities for three or four days can result in food for one or two days if the food is unduly delicious

But! Claudia has a remedy for that:

Read: How To Eliminate Food Cravings And What To Do When They Win

Anyway, there’s a wealth of resources in the above-linked pages, so do check them out!

Perhaps the biggest take-away is to ask yourself:

“What are my guiding principles when it comes to food?”

If you don’t have a ready answer, maybe it’s time to tackle that—whether Claudia’s way or your own!

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  • Why Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Is More Likely Than You Think

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    Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): More Likely Than You Think

    COPD is not so much one disease, as rather a collection of similar (and often overlapping) diseases. The main defining characteristic is that they are progressive lung diseases. Historically the most common have been chronic bronchitis and emphysema, though Long COVID and related Post-COVID conditions appear to have been making inroads.

    Lung cancer is generally considered separately, despite being a progressive lung disease, but there is crossover too:

    COPD prevalence is increased in lung cancer, independent of age, sex and smoking history

    COPD can be quite serious:

    Life expectancy and years of life lost in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Findings from the NHANES III Follow-up Study

    “But I don’t smoke”

    Great! In fact we imagine our readership probably has disproportionately few smokers compared to the general population, being as we all are interested in our health.

    But, it’s estimated that 30,000,000 Americans have COPD, and approximately half don’t know it. Bear in mind, the population of the US is a little over 340,000,000, so that’s a little under 9% of the population.

    Click here to see a state-by-state breakdown (how does your state measure up?)

    How would I know if I have it?

    It typically starts like any mild respiratory illness. Likely shortness of breath, especially after exercise, a mild cough, and a frequent need to clear your throat.

    Then it will get worse, as the lungs become more damaged; each of those symptoms might become stronger, as well as chest tightness and a general lack of energy.

    Later stages, you guessed it, the same but worse, and—tellingly—weight loss.

    The reason for the weight loss is because you are getting less oxygen per breath, making carrying your body around harder work, meaning you burn more calories.

    What causes it?

    Lots of things, with smoking being up at the top, or being exposed to a lot of second-hand smoke. Working in an environment with a lot of air pollution (for example, working around chemical fumes) can cause it, as can inhaling dust. New Yorkers: yes, that dust too. It can also develop from other respiratory illnesses, and some people even have a genetic predisposition to it:

    Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency: a commonly overlooked cause of lung disease

    Is it treatable?

    Treatment varies depending on what form of it you have, and most of the medical interventions are beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say, there are medications that can be taken (including bronchodilators taken via an inhaler device), corticosteroids, antibiotics and antivirals of various kinds if appropriate. This is definitely a “see your doctor” item though, because there are is far too much individual variation for us to usefully advise here.

    However!

    There are habits we can do to a) make COPD less likely and b) make COPD at least a little less bad if we get it.

    Avoiding COPD:

    • Don’t smoke. Just don’t.
      • Avoid second-hand smoke if you can
    • Avoid inhaling other chemicals/dust that may be harmful
    • Breathe through your nose, not your mouth; it filters the air in a whole bunch of ways
      • Seriously, we know it seems like nostril hairs surely can’t do much against tiny particles, but tiny particles are attracted to them and get stuck in mucous and dealt with by our immune system, so it really does make a big difference

    Managing COPD:

    • Continue the above things, of course
    • Exercise regularly, even just light walking helps; we realize it will be difficult
    • Maintain a healthy weight if you can
      • This means both ways; COPD causes weight loss and that needs to be held in check. But similarly, you don’t want to be carrying excessive weight either; that will tire you even more.
    • Look after the rest of your health; everything else will now hit you harder, so even small things need to be taken seriously
    • If you can, get someone to help / do your household cleaning for you, ideally while you are not in the room.

    Where can I get more help/advice?

    As ever, speak to your doctor if you are concerned this may be affecting you. You can also find a lot of resources via the COPD Foundation’s website.

    Take care of yourself!

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  • How To Rest More Efficiently (Yes, Really)

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    How To Rest More Efficiently (Yes, Really)

    We’ve talked before about how to recover more quickly after a workout, especially if you overdid it. There are a lot of tips in that article, so by all means check it out if you didn’t catch it at the time!

    That was very specific to recovering from exercise, though. Today we’re looking at something a little different, a little more holistic.

    You’re busier than you think

    Maybe your life is an obvious blur of busy-ness. Maybe it’s not. But either way, you’re almost certainly busier than you think. Especially on a cellular level.

    Your resting metabolic rate (RMR), or how many calories you burn while at rest (i.e., calories used just to keep you alive) will depend on various factors including age, sex, weight, body composition, and other things.

    That said, it’ll probably be between 1000 and 2000 calories per day. You can get a rough idea of what it might be for you, using this calculator:

    How Many Calories Do You Burn a Day at Rest (Doing Nothing)?

    So if ever you wonder why you feel so exhausted, despite having done nothing, it could be that your body was busy:

    • Metabolizing, generally (did you have a big meal?)
    • Fighting an illness (bacterial or viral infection, for example)
    • Fighting an imaginary illness and creating a real one in the process (stress, inflammation, etc)
    • Recovering/rebuilding from something you did yesterday or even before that
    • Thinking (your brain is your largest organ by mass, and consumes the most calories by far)

    Your brain does not get a free pass on being part of your body! Just like if a certain muscle group were working out constantly for 16 hours you’d be feeling pretty tired, the same goes for the organ that is your brain, if it’s been working out constantly.

    Your body is a composite organism—take advantage of that

    Dolphins can shut down half of their brain at once, to let each hemisphere of the brain sleep independently in shifts. We (except in the case of split brain patients, where the corpus callosum has been severed) can’t do that, but we can let different parts of the organism that is our body work in shifts.

    This is the real meaning of “a change is as a good as a rest”:

    If you’ve been doing cognitive work (at your desk perhaps, maybe managing a spreadsheet, say), then taking a break to do crosswords will not, actually, give you break. Because you’re still sitting manipulating letters and numbers. As far as your brain (still having to do work!) is concerned, it’s basically the same. Nor will checking out social media; you’re still sitting examining a screen.

    Instead, time to get physically active. Literally just doing the washing up would be a better break! Some yoga or Pilates would be perfect.

    In contrast, if you’ve been doing a vigorous bit of gardening, then for example taking a break to lift weights isn’t going to be a break, because again you just switched to a similar task.

    Better to pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read, or the crosswords we mentioned earlier. Or just lounge in your nicely-gardened garden.

    The important thing is: to not require the same resources from the body (including the brain, it’s still part of the body) that you have been.

    For more specific tips than we have room for here today, check out:

    How to Take Better Breaks at Work, According to Research

    Give your metabolism a break too

    Not completely—you don’t need to be put into cryostasis or anything.

    But, give your metabolism a rest, in relative terms. Intermittent fasting is great for precisely this; it lets your body rest and reset.

    See: Intermittent Fasting: we sort the science from the hype!

    So does the practice of meditation, by the way. You don’t have to get fancy with it, either:

    Check out: No Frills, Evidence-Based Mindfulness

    Enjoy, and rest well!

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  • 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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  • Health Simplified – by Daniel Cottmeyer

    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.

    Health Simplified – by Daniel Cottmeyer

    A lot of books focus on the most marketable aspects of health, such as fat loss or muscle gain. Instead, Cottmeyer takes a “birds-eye-view” of health in all its aspects, and then boils it down to the most critical key parts.

    Rather than giving a science-dense tome that nobody reads, or a light motivational piece that everyone reads but it amounts to “you can do it!”, here we get substance… but in a digestible form.

    Which we at 10almonds love.

    The book presents a simple action plan to:

    • Improve your relationship with food/exercise
    • Actually get better sleep
    • Understand how nutrition really works
    • Set up helpful habits that are workable and sustainable
    • Bring these components together synergistically

    Bottom line: if you’re going to buy only one health/fitness book, this is a fine contender.

    Get your copy of “Health Simplified” on Amazon today!

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  • The Evidence-Based Skincare That Beats Product-Specific Hype

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    A million videos on YouTube will try to sell you a 17-step skincare routine, or a 1-ingredient magical fix that’s messy and inconvenient enough you’ll do it once and then discard it. This one takes a simple, scientific approach instead.

    The Basics That Count

    Ali Abdaal, known for his productivity hacks channel, enlisted the help of his friend, dermatologist Dr. Usama Syed, who recommends the following 3–4 things:

    1. Moisturize twice per day. Skin acts as a barrier, locking in moisture and protecting against irritants. Moisturizers replenish fats and proteins, maintaining this barrier and preventing dry, inflamed, and itchy skin. He uses CeraVe, but if you have one you know works well with your skin, stick with that, because skin comes in many varieties and yours might not be like his.
    2. Use sunscreen every day. Your phone’s weather app should comment on your local UV index. If it’s “moderate” or above, then sunscreen is a must—even if you aren’t someone who burns easily at all, the critical thing here is avoiding UV radiation causing DNA mutations in skin cells, leading to wrinkles, dark spots, and potentially skin cancer. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen, ideally SPF 50.
    3. Use a retinoid. Retinoids are vitamin A-based and offer anti-aging benefits by promoting collagen growth, reducing pigmentation, and accelerating skin cell regeneration. Retinols are weaker, over-the-counter options, while stronger retinoids may require a prescription. Start gently with low dosage, whatever you choose, as initially they can cause dryness or sensitivity, before making everything better. He recommends adapalene as a starter retinoid (such as Differen gel, to give an example brand name).
    4. Optional: use a cleanser. Cleansers remove oils and dirt that water alone can’t. He recommends using a hydrating cleanser, to avoid stripping natural healthy oils as well as unwanted ones. That said, a cleanser is probably only beneficial if your skin tends towards the oily end of the dry-to-oily spectrum.

    For more on all of these, plus an example routine, enjoy:

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

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like to read:

    Who Screens The Sunscreens?

    Take care!

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  • ‘I keep away from people’ – combined vision and hearing loss is isolating more and more older Australians

    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.

    Our ageing population brings a growing crisis: people over 65 are at greater risk of dual sensory impairment (also known as “deafblindness” or combined vision and hearing loss).

    Some 66% of people over 60 have hearing loss and 33% of older Australians have low vision. Estimates suggest more than a quarter of Australians over 80 are living with dual sensory impairment.

    Combined vision and hearing loss describes any degree of sight and hearing loss, so neither sense can compensate for the other. Dual sensory impairment can occur at any point in life but is increasingly common as people get older.

    The experience can make older people feel isolated and unable to participate in important conversations, including about their health.

    bricolage/Shutterstock

    Causes and conditions

    Conditions related to hearing and vision impairment often increase as we age – but many of these changes are subtle.

    Hearing loss can start as early as our 50s and often accompany other age-related visual changes, such as age-related macular degeneration.

    Other age-related conditions are frequently prioritised by patients, doctors or carers, such as diabetes or heart disease. Vision and hearing changes can be easy to overlook or accept as a normal aspect of ageing. As an older person we interviewed for our research told us

    I don’t see too good or hear too well. It’s just part of old age.

    An invisible disability

    Dual sensory impairment has a significant and negative impact in all aspects of a person’s life. It reduces access to information, mobility and orientation, impacts social activities and communication, making it difficult for older adults to manage.

    It is underdiagnosed, underrecognised and sometimes misattributed (for example, to cognitive impairment or decline). However, there is also growing evidence of links between dementia and dual sensory loss. If left untreated or without appropriate support, dual sensory impairment diminishes the capacity of older people to live independently, feel happy and be safe.

    A dearth of specific resources to educate and support older Australians with their dual sensory impairment means when older people do raise the issue, their GP or health professional may not understand its significance or where to refer them. One older person told us:

    There’s another thing too about the GP, the sort of mentality ‘well what do you expect? You’re 95.’ Hearing and vision loss in old age is not seen as a disability, it’s seen as something else.

    Isolated yet more dependent on others

    Global trends show a worrying conundrum. Older people with dual sensory impairment become more socially isolated, which impacts their mental health and wellbeing. At the same time they can become increasingly dependent on other people to help them navigate and manage day-to-day activities with limited sight and hearing.

    One aspect of this is how effectively they can comprehend and communicate in a health-care setting. Recent research shows doctors and nurses in hospitals aren’t making themselves understood to most of their patients with dual sensory impairment. Good communication in the health context is about more than just “knowing what is going on”, researchers note. It facilitates:

    • shorter hospital stays
    • fewer re-admissions
    • reduced emergency room visits
    • better treatment adherence and medical follow up
    • less unnecessary diagnostic testing
    • improved health-care outcomes.

    ‘Too hard’

    Globally, there is a better understanding of how important it is to maintain active social lives as people age. But this is difficult for older adults with dual sensory loss. One person told us

    I don’t particularly want to mix with people. Too hard, because they can’t understand. I can no longer now walk into that room, see nothing, find my seat and not recognise [or hear] people.

    Again, these experiences increase reliance on family. But caring in this context is tough and largely hidden. Family members describe being the “eyes and ears” for their loved one. It’s a 24/7 role which can bring frustration, social isolation and depression for carers too. One spouse told us:

    He doesn’t talk anymore much, because he doesn’t know whether [people are] talking to him, unless they use his name, he’s unaware they’re speaking to him, so he might ignore people and so on. And in the end, I noticed people weren’t even bothering him to talk, so now I refuse to go. Because I don’t think it’s fair.

    older woman looks down at table while carer looks on
    Dual sensory loss can be isolating for older people and carers. Synthex/Shutterstock

    So, what can we do?

    Dual sensory impairment is a growing problem with potentially devastating impacts.

    It should be considered a unique and distinct disability in all relevant protections and policies. This includes the right to dedicated diagnosis and support, accessibility provisions and specialised skill development for health and social professionals and carers.

    We need to develop resources to help people with dual sensory impairment and their families and carers understand the condition, what it means and how everyone can be supported. This could include communication adaptation, such as social haptics (communicating using touch) and specialised support for older adults to navigate health care.

    Increasing awareness and understanding of dual sensory impairment will also help those impacted with everyday engagement with the world around them – rather than the isolation many feel now.

    Moira Dunsmore, Senior Lecturer, Sydney Nursing School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, University of Sydney; Annmaree Watharow, Lived Experience Research Fellow, Centre for Disability Research and Policy, University of Sydney, and Emily Kecman, Postdoctoral research fellow, Department of Linguistics, University of Sydney

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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