Recently I’ve been overcome by waves of intense gratitude. They usually come on while walking outside. It’s been cold and rainy here in Oakland lately, and the winter light has a crisp, enhanced quality.
Tag: health Page 1 of 2
I saw this “pros and cons of drinking coffee” infographic from Jason Tham last year, and saved it, meaning to repost it because it’s so excellent. Better late than never — here it is! Click for larger image.
As regular readers of this blog already know, I often recommend Dan’s Plan as a system for weight loss, fitness, and all-around health. If you’re in the process of creating your own health system, the infographic below is a great resource. It’s complete, clear, and well-balanced.
The philosophy behind the Dan’s Plan health system is the same as my own — in general try to be more paleolithic, while also embracing the benefits of modern civilization and information technology.
The original post is here.
Good health to you!
Berry berry yummy.
This post is a continuation of Pick the Low-Hanging Fruit, Part II (Health).
4. Reduce artificial light in the evening.
Are you sleep-deprived? Do you “try to go to bed earlier” and fail, night after night? I’ve been there. If you enjoy browsing the internet or watching TV or playing video games or even just reading, you may, like many other people, fail to get sleepy in the evening (even when your body and mind are exhausted). You know what’s keeping you up? It’s the artificial light (blue spectrum light in particular). At least according to this book, the blue light (equivalent to day light) is blocking the serotonin to melatonin conversion process — and the melatonin is the hormone/neurotransmitter that tells your body it’s time to go to sleep (and makes you feel sleepy).
I’d always thought of myself as a “night owl” until I tried an experiment; go without artificial light in the evening. I found that without light bulbs, the TV, or the blue glow of the computer screen keeping me up, I would often be yawning by 9pm (otherwise my “natural” bedtime would be midnight or 1am).
The experiment I conducted was not easy. But there are two very easy steps you can take in the same general direction.
- use fewer lights in the evening — no need to have the whole house ablaze
- download and install the free f.lux software on your computer — if you do then it won’t be your computer that’s keeping you up!
5. Exercise intensely 1-2 minutes a day, at least a few times a week.
All the latest exercise physiology research is pointing to these two general conclusions:
- intensity (achieving maximum heart rate, lifting maximum weight) is more important than duration
- less is more (recovery time is very important, over-training is very damaging)
If you really go for for that 1-2 minutes, you’re going to achieve MOST of the benefits in the following categories:
- cardiovascular fitness (maximize heart rate)
- strength (maximize weight lifted, move very slowly and with good form, stress muscles to the point where GH is released)
- bone density (especially with jumping or sprinting — both stress and thus strengthen the long bones)
What qualifies as intense? Sprints, jumping and leaping, body-weight exercises (pullups, pushups, chinups, bar dips, etc.), carrying/lifting/pushing heavy objects, running up stairs — that sort of thing. The best exercises are the ones that you actually enjoy doing — don’t bother with exercises that feel uncomfortable, boring, etc.
Most of the people flogging themselves in the gym aren’t improving their health. Instead, they’re spiking their cortisol levels, stressing their joints, overburdening (and possibly enlarging) their hearts, and probably boring themselves to death in the process.
6. Floss before you brush.
My “floss every day” intention used to lead to flossing three or four times a week. I would wait until right before going to sleep to brush my teeth, and half the time after brushing I would be too tired or lazy to floss.
Gum health is massively important for overall health. Even mildly inflamed gums can raise your risk of heart disease (“leaky gums” are an open door for pathogens to waltz right into your bloodstream, thus giving your immune system a constant low-grade battle which can lead to chronic inflammation and the formation of arterial plaque). Even knowing this, AND having a family history of both heart disease and gum problems, wasn’t enough to get me to religiously floss every day.
The trick that worked for me was switching the order. I don’t think I’ve missed a day since. Flossing doesn’t seem difficult anymore, because I’m not waiting until I’m exhausted to do it. Even more important is anchoring the less ingrained habit (flossing) to a more ingrained habit (brushing).
One other thing I’ve noticed is that flossing is easier and faster if I’m not looking in the mirror. Something about the visual feedback slows down the process — I can floss more quickly (and just as thoroughly) by touch alone.
The low-fat diet is just crazy.
7. Eat more fat.
In general, carbs (sugars and starches, including bread and pasta) cause the release of insulin, which lowers your blood sugar. This makes you want to eat more carbs. Eating dietary fat, on the other hand, leads to the sensation of fullness. It’s easier to avoid overeating if you tilt the balance away from carbohydrates and towards healthful dietary fats.
There are a few types of dietary fat you want to avoid, including trans fats (hydrogenated vegetable oil), highly processed fats (like canola oil), old/rancid fats (processed vegetable and seed oils are especially vulnerable), and overheated vegetable/seed oils. These oxidized fats can damage your health in a number of ways.
The good news is that most fats that are delicious are also health-promoting, including butter (especially from pastured cows), olive oil, coconut oil, fatty fish, chicken fat, and beef fat (again, especially from grass-fed/pastured cows).
Keeping a good ratio between Omega-3 fats (from wild-caught fish and grass-fed animal sources) and Omega-6 fats (from nuts and seeds, seed oils, and grain-fed animal sources) will support overall health, including immune function, heart health, mood, and blood sugar regulation. Most people consume too much Omega-6 and not enough Omega-3. Taking supplemental fish oil is the easiest way to improve this ratio (you can check out this site and this study to see which brands are best and which ones to avoid). Keep fish oil refrigerated.
These days the prevailing wisdom says that we should avoid saturated fat to maintain optimum health and avoid heart disease, but the actual evidence behind this claim in extremely weak. Most of the studies that claim saturated fat harms our health don’t control for intake of salt, refined flour, trans-fats, sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and processed food. For example, a typical dietary study might compare the health of people eating the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) to the Mediterranean diet — in other words hamburgers, hot dogs, white bread, corn oil, soda VS. fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, olive oil, beans, and whole grain. Conclusion: saturated fat is bad for you! Really? What about all the other junk on the S.A.D. side? What about all the protective effects of the healthful foods on the Med side? Studies like this don’t prove anything about saturated fat in particular. Next time you see a headline that proclaims the evils of saturated fat, drill down and take a look to see what foods were actually being consumed by the study participants.
The original Ancel Keys “7 countries” study that got us collectively believing in the evils of saturated fat was based on cherry-picked (in effect, falsified) data. Ancel Keys only included data from countries where both dietary saturated fat and heart disease were high — and left out data from countries where dietary saturated fat was high and heart disease was low.
The latest clinical research shows there is no relationship between eating saturated fat and getting heart disease. Here’s the direct link to the meta-analysis.
For detailed discussions and numerous citations to the studies behind these assertions about dietary fat, I encourage you to explore Dr. Eades’s site and Mark Sisson’s site. That is, if you like butter, and bacon.
A small serving of fruit.
In my first post in this series I wrote about “low-hanging fruit” in regards to charitable giving. I shared my opinions regarding which organizations are working effectively and transparently to improve people’s lives by tackling big problems with relatively straightforward solutions.
Today I’ll write about applying the same “low-hanging fruit” principle to personal health. What steps can we take to improve our health, energy, longevity, and vitality that aren’t that hard? Why not start with the easy stuff?
Personal health regimens often appear to be complicated and difficult, but I think that for most of us there are easy steps we can take that can radically improve our health.
1. Get your vitamin D levels up to between 40-60 ng/ml.
Up to two-thirds of people in the U.S. have “sub-optimal” levels of vitamin D — not low enough to result in rickets but low enough to increase vulnerability to certain types of cancer, reduce bone density, reduce immunity, and negatively affect more or less every organ in the body. If you’re curious, search for the studies online and read the opinions of various medical experts. Quite a few doctors and researchers have A LOT to say about this topic, and there is no shortage of clinical research.
My personal experience of taking 5000IU a day (I take one 5000IU capsule a day, along with fish oil or sometimes cod liver oil) over this last winter is the following:
- deeper, more restful sleep
- general better mood (very little “feeling down” and frequent “happiness for no discernible reason”)
- no serious colds and no flu (a couple times this winter I felt almost sick for a couple days, but never “full blown”)
- cessation of asthma symptoms (most of my asthma symptoms went away after switching to something more closely resembling a paleolithic diet, but I don’t think I’ve had a single flare-up since starting on the vitamin D)
I’m also impressed by the inverse relationship between vitamin D levels and many types of cancer. I’ll get my blood level checked at my next checkup and see what the results are … if they’re above 60 ng/ml I’ll back off on the supplementation as there can be negative effects from blood levels that are too high. However some doctors say that keeping levels as high as 60-90 ng/ml is ideal.
A full winter’s supply of vitamin D shouldn’t cost you more than $20 or $30. One pill a day if you take the 5kIU size, and it’s no big deal if you miss a day. You also want to make sure you’re getting enough calcium (sardines, canned salmon, dairy, greens, almonds) and magnesium (greens, cocoa/dark chocolate, nuts and seeds, beans) in your diet.
If 5000IU seems high (it looks high compared to the U.S. RDA), consider that 20 minutes of sun on your bare skin can generate up to 20,000IU (depending on a number of factors, including how tan or naturally dark you are, time of year, time of day, latitude, how much skin is exposed, etc.). You generally get enough vitamin D from the sun before you burn (vitamin production shuts down so you can’t get too much this way).
2. Start consuming green tea, dark chocolate, and/or red wine on a regular basis.
C’mon, you’ve got to enjoy at least one of these flavors, no? While pill-form antioxidants have come up short in clinical studies, regular consumers of these three antioxidant-packed foods show lower risk for heart disease, cancer, and dementia. The relatively low amounts of sugar, caffeine, and alcohol in these foods will do you less harm than the polyphenols will do you good.
If you find the taste of green tea to be too bitter, you’re probably brewing it wrong. Get loose-leaf tea from China, quickly rinse it with very hot water (not quite boiling), then brew it for as short a time as 30 seconds. Brewing too long or using fully boiling water can result in a bitter taste (though both methods will also increase polyphenol content, so you have to find a balance).
In terms of red wine, this page presents a good overview of which varietals contain the highest levels of polyphenol antioxidants.
With chocolate, the processing method can remove many of the healthful antioxidants. I like to make hot cocoa out of minimally processed “raw cacao” (I don’t know what’s up with the funny spelling — that’s why I put it in quotes). There are several brands but I’ve been buying the Navitas brand for awhile and I like the taste. For one mug I use about 2T of the unsweetened powder and 1t sugar, boiling water, and a little whole milk.
3. Hang out more with your friends.
Commenting on your friends’ FB status updates doesn’t count. But real social networks, the kind where you actually hang out and do stuff (or even just sit around and gossip) with your friends, is associated with longevity, lower blood pressure, reduced stress, lower risk of depression, and all kinds of good stuff. And it makes life more fun.
If your “friends” like doing meter-long rails of cocaine, rows of Jager-bombs, crime, or extreme vertical-cliff snowboarding, this one might not apply. Find a good Settlers of Catan group or something.
Coming up next …
I’ve been advised to keep my posts shorter if I want to keep your attention, so I’ll save 4-7 for the next post.