⭑ Light, timing, action ✔ The formula for unlocking your best sleep cycle All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, Good sleep. Lack of sleep slowly destroys your mind and body. It's been used as torture for thousands of years and is still used today because it is very effective. We all need sound, deep sleep to function to our full potential and to live longer better. Yesterday morning, I noticed my sleep recovery index was "optimal". It is usually a little less (I use the Ultrahuman AIR ring for this). Perhaps that's why an article about sleep in the Washington Post caught my attention. Adjusting the type and timing of lighting can greatly improve your sleep quality — see item #1. There is a new blood test to determine if you are likely to develop dementia. Would you want to know, at what age? — see item #2. // 01 Your Body Has Been Fine-tuning Its Sleep Rhythm For Millennia Our natural melatonin production wanes as we age, but restful sleep can still be within reach with thoughtful supplement use and light management. But before turning to melatonin supplements, consider this: your body has been fine-tuning its sleep rhythm for millennia. Maybe it's time we listened to it. Harnessing the power of melatonin isn't just about popping a pill; it's about syncing our lives with the natural rhythms of light and darkness. The answer isn't more artificial light—it's about understanding the delicate dance between darkness and our body's natural melatonin production. ⇒ Light is the conductor of our body's melatonin orchestra—too much at the wrong time can lead to frustrating sleep issues, which are unfortunately all too common. What this means for you: Here are five practical steps for optimising your melatonin levels without supplements based on an understanding of how light affects its production:
Tip: Implement point #4 by reducing the brightness of household lights and replacing bright, blue-emitting lights with bulbs that emit warmer light. Adjust electronic devices by using their "Night Mode" or "Night Shift" settings. Tip: Implement point #5 by using nightlights that emit red or warm light instead of bright white or blue light. Turn off screens, and if you wake up and must use a device, ensure that it's set to emit minimal brightness and is in a night mode that reduces blue light. Wishing you deep, restful sleep. Related: Article in The Washington Post (may need a subscription). // 02 Dementia's Early Intervention Benefits Vs Its Psychological Toll Thousands of Britons who are worried about their memory are set to receive blood tests for dementia, according to The Times. On the surface, this sounds like a good thing. But would you REALLY want to know? Why, and what COULD you do if you did know, and what WOULD you do if you did know? This question does not have a straightforward answer because it is an ethical dilemma. For example, if those thousands of Britons who "are worried about their memory" all take the tests, we can be confident that many will regret it. If the test is 100% accurate, e.g. no false positives or negatives, and the treatment triggered by the test is 100% effective - even if it only promised to slow the onset of dementia - then the ethical dilemma is much lessened. However, the tests are not 100% accurate today, and neither is the treatment 100% effective. What does this mean for you? Below are arguments for and against knowing in advance about the risk of developing dementia. Arguments for Knowing in Advance
Arguments Against Knowing in Advance
Conclusion The decision of whether to know in advance is profoundly personal and complex. ⇒ There is still a long way to go in terms of how our society and relevant services can provide support for individuals who face the difficult decision of whether or not to know about life-changing medical conditions that may not become apparent until years or even decades later in life. Related: Vitamin K Keeps Our Brain 11 Years Younger - Study @Medium - Follow me on Medium ↗, covering ⭑food, ⭑brain, ⭑body, ⭑life // 03 Alternative: Viewing Risk Through The Abundance Mindset There is an alternative view to using pro and con arguments to frame the ethical dilemma presented by the test for dementia. By adopting an abundance mindset, a more holistic option presents itself. How does this work? What this means for you: Using an abundance mindset to navigate the decision whether to take the test or not means focusing on your options for self-empowerment, holistic well-being, and the support of a compassionate community. In other words, you would focus on the potential for growth, preparedness, and positive action rather than fear and limitation:
Despite the "Oxford Debate" model of winning or losing an argument - of being right or wrong - has taken over the world, there is another approach. An abundance mindset allows you to work with ambiguities and to take responsibility for, and feel in control of, your imperfect decisions. // 04 Four At-Home Exercises To Strengthen Your Feet Our exercise of the week is... standing toe stance exercises. There are 29 muscles associated with each of your feet: 10 originate outside the foot but cross the ankle joint to act on the foot, and 19 are intrinsic foot muscles. The intrinsic foot muscles are difficult to exercise and deteriorate quite rapidly as we age. This exacerbates poor balance & posture, walking pains, and foot aches. ⇒ Pains from feet that are losing their capacity to maintain their skeletomuscular structure and function spread up into your shins, knees, hips and lower back. To exercise the intrinsic foot muscles, physiotherapists "traditionally" recommend exercises such as toe scrunches, picking up socks with toes, and raising toes one by one while resting your foot flat on the floor. You may be familiar with these, often done while seated. As their understanding has evolved, physiotherapists have begun to acknowledge the superior benefits of weight-bearing exercises for engaging, coordinating and strengthening the intrinsic foot muscles. ⇒ Furthermore, standing exercises reinforce and sustain the neuromuscular pathways from your brain to your toes, a crucial pathway that is not improved when exercising while sitting. This is one reason that using gym machines is a big mistake for longevity. Related: Why Exercising On Gym Machines Is A Mistake That Can Cut 5 Years Off Your Life What this means for you: Standing exercises naturally demand higher neuromuscular activation. This not only helps prevent falls, but it also helps you remain more neurologically and physically active, more confident and to live longer better. Check this video for illustrations of the four specific exercises:
These are the sort of exercises I do often to help my running, and to help alleviate or avoid foot, knee and hip pains from running. I know that they work. I'm sure that you'll also feel the benefits yourself after 6 to 10 weeks of consistently doing them. 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.
⭑ How long will it take me to get fit? ✔ Here's my 25 years worth⭑ Shocker ✔ Study finds standing desks don’t improve your health⭑ Some ultra processed foods aren't killers ✔ And others are ...⭑ An exercise you've never heard of will extend your healthspan ✔ Fact All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, Spring Has sprung here Down Under. It was a glorious day today, and I headed out for a 5km run about 30 minutes after dawn. I'm surprisingly aerobically fit, considering I haven't run...
⭑ The weight debate ✔ Is it really harder to lose weight today?⭑ No time for weekday workouts? No problem! ✔ So says this study⭑ Remember better ✔ The power of a quiet rest!⭑ An exercise for better posture ✔ Dead simple All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, I'm back. No AI-written posts today. We've had a few unseasonably warm days here in Melbourne as we head into Spring. I hope we don’t bake like the summer in the Northern Hemisphere. I want to run often again in summer, as I used...
⭑ Is your dinner time disrupting your sleep? ✔ Why it matters⭑ Potatoes make for better skin health ✔ In moderation⭑ Combining prebiotics with whole grains ✔ Boosts your gut health⭑ Exercise your neck for better balance ✔ Here's how All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, To AI or not AI? Some say AI is unhuman, others inhuman, yet most humans can't distinguish ChatGPT responses from those of humans. In fact, Google's AI LaMDA recently passed the Turing Test, meaning it was...