⭑ Understand your changing calorie needs ✔ a natural decline in volume
⭑ Dark tea yields more than a refreshing cup ✔ amazing metabolic benefits
⭑ Seed oils are best when cold-pressed ✔ an update
⭑ Reduce knee pain before exercising ✔ best 2-minute knee mobility routine

Hello,

All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

Seed oils.

Following feedback, I've added extra information about seed oils, which I mentioned in last week's newsletter in the Food Myths item. Current medical advice is that seed oils are not harmful in moderation. But I would still err on the side of cold-pressed. See item #3.

Two compounds found in dark tea could be your new best friends. They reduce cholesterol, and their fellow bioactive compounds reduce the risk of diabetes - see item #2.

To remain healthy, we must eat less as we age. But how much less, and what else should change in our diet? See item #1.

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01 Decoding the Impact of Age on Your Dietary Demands

The main factor affecting our calorie needs is our body size. The bigger we are, the more calories we require. However, our life stage is also crucial when determining our calorie needs.

For example, babies and children require fewer calories than adults due to their smaller size. However, relative to their body size, babies and children actually use more calories than adults because they are growing and developing.

So what happens as we get older?

Obviously, we become less active. We also suffer from a significant loss of muscle in our 60s and beyond. And our brain, which is the body's most metabolically active tissue, decreases in size and becomes less energy-demanding.

⇒ In fact, starting around age 19, our calorie requirements tend to decrease annually.

What this means for you: If we wish to remain trim, above all else, we need to consume fewer calories. We could eat less, or fewer low-nutrition high-calorie foods, or both.

Although we might try to keep up physical activity and focus on maintaining muscle mass, it is unlikely that this would be enough to compensate for the aging effects causing us to need fewer calories.

Besides, aging brings changes in our nutritional needs: we need more of certain nutrients such as calcium, vitamin B6, vitamin D, and protein.

The bottom line? We need to bring our consumption into balance with our physical activity, muscle mass (lower), and other physiological changes.

Start by reducing your calories by 20%, and when you reach your healthy weight, swap out empty calories for foods such as dairy products, fish with edible bones, poultry, bananas and avocados (B6), salmon and mackerel, and, if you prefer, plant-based proteins.

And remember, don't swap out healthy fibre such as that in almonds, chickpeas, broccoli, carrots, apples, oranges, and oatmeal. Fibre plays an important role in our metabolic and brain health.

Related: Does Running Burn More Calories Than Walking? Yes, unless ...
​and, How To Calculate How Much Less You Need To Eat Now That You Are Exercising Less​

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02 Dark Tea Helps Reduce Diabetes Risk and Improves Longevity

How does dark tea improve longevity? Because the fermentation process involved in producing dark tea results in the creation of bioactive compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, increasing insulin sensitivity and the performance of beta cells in the pancreas.

Two of the key contributors to its health benefits are the compounds named Theaflavins and Thearubigins. These beneficial compounds not only contribute to reducing cholesterol levels but also play a significant role in decreasing blood sugar levels. Tea's compounds also enhance insulin sensitivity and fortify the performance of pancreatic beta cells.

Moreover, dark tea's antioxidant properties assist in eliminating free radicals in the body, while its anti-inflammatory effects help to curb inflammation.

A recent study has unveiled an exciting correlation between regular consumption of dark tea and reduced risks of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Specifically, daily drinkers reported a 53% lower risk of prediabetes and a 47% lower risk of type 2 diabetes. These findings are nothing short of spectacular.

The most intriguing discovery from this study is how dark tea increases urinary glucose excretion. This means it helps draw out excess sugar from our bloodstream, compensating to some degree for any declining insulin response. This remarkable feature offers significant implications for longevity by mitigating the prevalent risks of high blood sugar levels and diabetes.

What does this mean for you? Reducing the risk of high cholesterol, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes could be as simple as incorporating dark tea, mainly black tea, into your daily routine. This safe and cost-effective dietary approach can potentially change the game for diabetes prevention.

If you can, opt for natural dark tea without added artificial ingredients to reap the maximum potential benefits.

FAQs: What is prediabetes?

Prediabetes is a condition characterised by high blood sugar levels, indicating an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Q: How does dark tea reduce the risk of diabetes?

Dark tea may reduce the risk of diabetes by increasing urinary glucose excretion and improving insulin sensitivity.

Q: What are the benefits of dark tea for overall well-being?

Dark tea has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, enhances insulin action, improves insulin resistance, protects beta cells in the pancreas, removes free radicals from the body, and decreases inflammation.

Related (older blog posts of mine): ​The Surprising Benefits of Black Tea Daily​​

@Medium - Follow me on Medium ↗, covering ⭑food, ⭑brain, ⭑body, ⭑life

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03 Seed Oils Update - Cold-pressed or Refined?

In last week's newsletter, I relayed current medical advice that seed oils in moderation were not regarded as a health risk. However, medical research also sheds light on the significant health advantages of cold-pressed seed oils over industrially processed ones. Here’s a straightforward breakdown:

Purity and Nutritional Value:

1. Cold-pressed seed oils are extracted without the use of high heat or chemical solvents, preserving essential fatty acids, and antioxidants like vitamin E and selenium.
2. Industrial processing, conversely, strips oils of beneficial nutrients while introducing potentially harmful substances, including residues from petrochemicals used in the refining process.

Heat Stability and Safety:

1. When heated, industrially processed seed oils can degrade into toxic byproducts, becoming more harmful when consumed or inhaled. Furthermore, heating such oils to their smoking point can generate free radicals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are known to be extremely carcinogenic.
2. Cold-pressed oils are not subjected to such high heat during extraction and retain their heat stability, making them a safer choice for cooking.

What this means for you: Gradually replace industrially processed seed oils in your pantry with cold-pressed variants. Look for labels that specify “cold-pressed” or “unrefined” when shopping.

Avoid heating oils to their smoking point. Opt for gentler cooking methods like sautéing, steaming, or slow-cooking, which preserve the nutritional integrity of the oil and your food.

⇒ Opting for cold-pressed oils not only benefits your health but also makes a positive impact on the environment, as the extraction process is more eco-friendly compared to industrial processing, which often involves the use of harmful solvents.

Related: How Bananas Benefit Your Bones - And Brain​​​​​​

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04 Blood Flow and Lubricating Knees to Avoid Pain and Injury​

Our exercise of the week is... knee full-range-of-motion activation.

As you undoubtedly know, knee pain is a common curse of aging. This warm-up mobility exercise reduces the risk of knee tendon injuries before exercising, especially on treadmills or running. It only takes 2 minutes.

Our knees are synovial joints, also known as movable joints, containing a fluid rich with all the nutrients necessary for optimal joint function. By moving these joints, you supply these nutrients to every connective tissue surface within the joint, including your tendons and joint cartilage.

Moving your joints slowly and deliberately through a complete range of motion aids the travel of synovial fluid within the joint. You should feel fewer twitches and niggles when you then start exercising.

⇒ In short, this type of movement nourishes your joints with what they require to remain flexible, robust and injury-free.

What this means for you: Take 2 minutes to warm up your knee and reduce the chance of pain and injury:

1. While sitting, hook your right arm underneath the back of your right leg, just above the knee.
2. Rotate your foot and knee outward, then extend your knee as far as possible.
3. Next, rotate your foot and knee inward and flex your knee as much as possible.
4. Perform the above steps in the opposite direction to complete one full rep.
5. Repeat 10 to 15 times on each side​.

⇒ See this video - scroll down to "Move 2: Knee Full Range of Motion Activation".

Tips: (1) Ensure you're in a comfortable seated position to avoid any strain on your back or hips, and (2) Perform the motions slowly to avoid any sudden jerks or strains.

Good luck.

Related: Avoid Ankle Injuries And Gain Balance Better With These Four Everyday Simple Exercises​​

Thanks for reading!

P.S. If you are not yet subscribed to my free exercise app, try now ↓↓↓ Free forever. Opt-out any time. Opt-in by CLICKING HERE PLEASE SEND ME THE EXERCISES. NOTE: YOU ONLY NEED TO SUBSCRIBE ONE TIME.

>> My Latest Blog Post: Energise Your Golden Years: Boosting Your Desire to Exercise with Gut-Healthy Foods​

About the newsletter: Do you think it can be improved? Have a story idea? Want to share about the time you met Chris Hemsworth, or your questions about how to live longer better? Send those thoughts and more to me at walter@bodyagebuster.com

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