⭑ You can lower your risk of dementia ✔ focus on these 3 things first All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, AI images and such. By the way, have you had a chance to explore AI? You can use it at Microsoft Bing for free, (although you may need a Microsoft account). It's not just a tech gimmick, it's a tool that can stimulate your brain and enhance your cognitive abilities. I've been diverting myself from filing my tax return by playing with different AI image generators. It's quite addictive. Sometimes the results have me standing up in my chair in amazement! Bing uses DALL·E by OpenAI. It is an AI system that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language. I urge you to try it. There are many competitors. The image below was my first attempt to get Google's Imagen to produce a (wide-view low-angle) image of a miniature dachshund on an Italian street in summer. Amazing, right? Pop that on a Stickermule T-shirt and you'll be the life of the dog park. I have too many of them already!! As yet, there is no magic pill to match your healthspan to your lifespan, you still need to take the initiative for yourself — see item #2. A study found 3 risk factors among 162 that have the biggest negative association with dementia. You can alter each one's effect on you — see item #1 // 01 Avoid These Three Most Harmful Lifestyle Factors for Dementia A recent study considered 161 different "modifiable risk factors for dementia". The three most harmful risk factors identified, in comparison to the other 158 risk factors, were:
These factors were identified as the most harmful modifiable risk factors for dementia among all the factors considered in the study, particularly affecting your brain's fragile regions. In the research's context, the brain's fragile regions refer to a "network of higher-order regions" that process information from our senses. ⇒ These areas not only develop later during adolescence but also show earlier degeneration in old age and are particularly vulnerable to conditions such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, making them a "weak spot" according to the researchers. The study examined 161 modifiable risk factors for dementia, grouped into 15 categories, including blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, weight, alcohol consumption, and pollution, among others, across 40,000 adults in the UK aged between 44 and 83 years old. This is a solid study. What this means for you: "Modifiable risk factors" implies that you have the ability to alter them, for better or worse.
There's no better time to start than now, good luck. Related: Measuring your waist will tell you if you are on your way to diabetes // 02 Lifespan or Healthspan, Which Would You Prioritise? A recent article in Scientific American distinguished between lifespan and healthspan, highlighting the importance of focusing on extending the years of life free from chronic disease rather than merely prolonging life. The article defines healthspan as the period of life free of chronic disease or disability. This is also the point of my slogan, "living longer better", which guides my research and writing for you. Unfortunately, we are faced with an immutable fact, as stated in the article: aging is the most significant risk factor for cancer, heart disease, and dementia. We can't change aging. However, an emerging field called "geroscience" aims to understand and manipulate the biological processes of aging to improve healthspan. ⇒ Right now, despite the lack of treatments to reverse aging effects, lifestyle interventions can significantly modulate the biology of aging, potentially adding up to a decade of healthy years. What does this mean for you? "Preventive maintenance" for extending healthspan includes regular checkups, monitoring cholesterol levels and blood pressure, and paying attention to your nutritional and exercise needs. While we do not understand all the causal reasons, there is plenty of evidence of a strong positive correlation between lifestyle factors—such as nutrition, sleep, exercise, and social connection—and extended healthspan. In the future, you may be able to pop a pill that positively influences the underlying mechanisms of aging. For now, we have to do the work. Exercise regularly (start small), eat real food, and mix with peers who care for you and encourage you. When faced with getting started, I always think of the famous quote from Lao Tzu - "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" (oft quoted by Mao Tse Tung). Related: The Countdown - How To Start Exercising When You Can't Get Started @Medium - Follow me on Medium ↗, covering ⭑food, ⭑brain, ⭑body, ⭑life // 03 Can More Water Helps You Concentrate? New research from Pakistan popped up in my feed during the week concerning sleep patterns, water intake, and the ability to concentrate. Concentration refers to the ability to focus and maintain attention on a task or activity. The study measured concentration using a self-report questionnaire. Participants were asked to rate their usual concentration level on a categorical scale. As we age, sleep quality generally declines. I know mine has. Here's what caught my attention: the report found a significant negative correlation between nine hours or more of sleep duration and negative mood. ⇒ Additionally, daily water intake and concentration had a significant positive correlation. 64% of the study participants drank less than 2L of water daily. So while more water might not help you concentrate, less than 2L daily diminishes your concentration. What this means for you: A significant correlation between daily water intake and concentration was found, wherein a decrease in daily water intake showed a negative effect on concentration. The research suggests that for better concentration, you should prioritise sufficient sleep duration and adequate water intake, namely:
Additionally, practising good sleep hygiene by avoiding screen use before bedtime and having dinner at least one to two hours before sleep is essential. Regular exercise and avoiding late-night meals can also contribute to better concentration. Good luck. // 04 Small Regular Exercises Make A Big Difference - Try This Our exercise of the week is... standing heel raises with an isometric contraction. Over the 25 years I've been exercising regularly, I have discovered the effectiveness of simple exercises integrated into my daily routine. The standing heel raises with isometric contraction is deceptively simple. The benefits are many, but I will focus on two: (1) postural stability and (2) fall prevention:
⇒ Try doing this exercise when you are brushing your teeth. You will be surprised how you start to notice the benefits of such a small investment. What this means for you: Stand straight and slowly lift your heels while squeezing your glutes, then lower them back down:
I do this when brushing my teeth, morning and night:
Start with two sets of 10 repetitions each, gradually increasing to three sets of 15 repetitions as your strength and balance improve. You'll start to notice the impact after about 3 months. It's worth it. 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 '4 Most Valuable' is a weekly newsletter from Walter Adamson. If you like it, please forward to a like-minded soul. Someone forward this to you? You can subscribe from this page. Each of these weekly emails has 4MV in the subject line to help you filter them and search for previous ones. |
"I empower mid-life men and women to make the choice to live as actively and as independently as they can, for as long as they can", Walter Adamson Get access to my weekly research that I don’t share elsewhere. “My wife and I both read your articles each week, and I have to say there is so much confusing data out there, but yours is a great source, well researched, scientific and always relevant.” — Steve Ridgway, subscriber.
⭑ Doing to much too soon will derail your exercise program ✔ Take a step back⭑ Skipping warm-up and cool-down stresses your joints ✔ Allow time⭑ Plateaus are natural, longer when you're older ✔ Learn to love them⭑ Good posture and controlled movements get you the best return on exercise ✔ All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, I trust you're well and staying active. The newsletter is a different format today, just one item, with 10 hints to avoid mistakes that can reduce your gains...
⭑ Maintaining muscle health is one key to healthspan ✔ Three tips⭑ Inflammaging - what is it and how to tame it ✔ Gets worse as we age⭑ You can track your body's capacity to resolve stress ✔ I find it interesting⭑ Healthier back shoulders and biceps with the dumbbell row ✔ All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, I trust you're well and keeping active. Summer's here down under. We’ve had some weird nights with the highest temperature for the day at 5 am! Perhaps that's why my...
⭑ These doctors will fact-check your medical queries ✔ For free⭑ How walnuts improve your brain health and your blood pressure ✔ Research⭑ Regular bad dreams? Talk to your doctor about it, here's why ✔⭑ The squat-calf raise combo is a fabulous muscle builder - not difficult ✔ All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, I trust you're well and keeping active. Ouch! Running for the train last Wednesday I tore my nearly repaired hamstring again - set me back a few months. The irony was that...