⭑ Your sleep quality directly affects your blood sugar control ✔ For diabetics All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello,Runners. "Runners are every physiotherapist's nightmare because they treat recovery time like a speed bump—just something to blast through on their way to more injuries", Every Physiotherapist. Despite some niggling pain from my hamstring, I've decided to run in a 10-mile (16 km) event tomorrow. I've studied the entrants. If I can just cross the finish line, I can win the State Winter Masters distance series aggregate prize for my age because I've won the previous 3 out of 5 events. Fingers crossed. I never imagined that one day, I would drink a spinach shake before bed. Now, I almost look forward to it — see item #2 below. In last week's newsletter, I referred to an article in WebMD that prioritised two actions for pre-diabetics to avoid becoming fully diabetic: (1) lose 7% of your body weight, and (2) improve your sleep quality. This week I want to fully explain why better sleep matters for pre-diabetics and diabetics — see item #1. // 01 For Diabetics Sleep Matters - A Lot, Here's Why Your quality of sleep plays a significant role in regulating your blood sugar. This is crucially important for diabetics, yet it is not well understood. I hope that understanding the causation between good sleep quality and better blood sugar control will encourage you to pay more attention to your sleep habits. The research-based evidence is clear:
⇒ If you are prediabetic or diabetic it is crucial to give as much attention to your sleep quality as your weight and regular exercise. What this means for you: In the absence of any breakthrough new suggestions for better sleep than have been in the newsletter multiple times, you may find these blog posts helpful if you have not read them in the past:
OR, check all sleep-related posts here:https://www.walteradamson.com/blog/category/sleep AND, this sleep-related previous Newsletter. Related: Measuring Your Waist Will Tell You If You Are On Your Way To Diabetes Related: How To Sleep Better And Recover Like Elite Soccer Players // 02 No Way - Not A Spinach Shake. Wait! It's Not Too Bad Until recently, I held a conscious bias against "extreme" health advice, such as drinking a spinach shake. I imagined that it would taste awful, and therefore, few people would do it, so such advice was of little value. I now drink a spinach shake every night before bed! I discovered that blended baby spinach tastes OK. My left brain drove my change of mind. It was a case of my left "logical" brain overpowering my right "emotional" brain. After having Covid just before Xmas last year, I had gut problems. In researching the causes and solutions, I found that spinach had qualities beneficial to gut lining health. That was enough for me to hold my nose and try to down a spinach shake, and I continued to do it. This new habit of mine is supported by scientific evidence highlighting the beneficial effects on the gut microbiota (over time, I also added kale):
⇒ In summary, a healthier gut leads to better nutrient absorption, lower levels of general inflammation, and a healthier gut-brain axis (linked to lower risk and reduced speed of neurological degeneration). I'm a fan! What this means for you: If you are fine with any form of spinach, then load up your blender, whizz it, and drink it before bed. Here are my tips:
Enjoy! Your gut will appreciate it. Related: Forget Beetroot Juice, Eat More Vegetables For Nitrate Potency And Longer Life @Medium - Follow me on Medium ↗, covering ⭑food, ⭑brain, ⭑body, ⭑life // 03 Humans Are Good Runners, But Why Do We Want To Run? Sometimes, while running, I've wondered why humans not only like to run distances but seem to want to run distances. Could it be that when we run, especially over long distances, we might not just be exercising our bodies; we could be engaging in a ritual as old as humanity itself? We've evolved to have a unique ability that sets us apart from most animals: we are exceptional long-distance runners. This is not just a quirk of nature, but a deeply ingrained evolutionary trait. Our ancestors relied on persistence hunting, a method in which they would chase prey over long distances until the animals collapsed from exhaustion. This required not only speed but also endurance, a quality that shaped our bodies and brains over millennia. ⇒ The skeletal structure of our feet, the strength of our gluteal muscles, our long tendons that store and release energy, and even our ability to sweat efficiently, all contribute to our prowess in long-distance running. Here's what intrigues me - it’s not just about survival. Running taps into a primordial part of our psyche, connecting us to the experiences of our ancestors. Once before, I mentioned how Cat Steven's song "Morning Has Broken" evoked these feelings in me. With its rhythmic movement and deep breathing, distance running releases endorphins and other neurochemicals, creating a sense of well-being and fulfilment. It’s a physical and spiritual practice that resonates with something ancient within us, a shared experience that links us to the dawn of human existence. What this means for you: Running isn’t just a workout; it’s a way to connect with the essence of being human. It doesn’t require you to train for a marathon. Here’s a simple playbook to help you tap into your ancestral spirits:
⇒ By taking these small steps, you can tap into the deeper, spiritual connection running offers. Related: Daddy, Is Skipping Better For You Than Running? // 04 True Hip Flexor Stretch - This Works Our exercise of the week is... the lunge-style hip flexor stretch with posterior hip rotation. I've been doing hip flexor stretches since injuring my hamstring while sprinting at the athletics club a month ago. I recently discovered that I was doing them incorrectly or, at least, ineffectively. ⇒ Effective execution requires posterior rotation of your hips, i.e. rotate your upper hip bone to the rear. I immediately found this to be more effective. What this means for you: Modify your everyday hip flexor stretch to include a posterior rotation, and you will notice the difference. You can do this daily; hold for 30 seconds on each side. ⇒ Check this video with all the details in 35 seconds. Key points:
Related: Keep Your Tendons Healthy And Your Balance Will Look After Itself 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...