Hello,

I trust you're safe, fit and well.

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

Milk in tea and coffee.

I didn't know this. Blood tests (during a few hours after drinking) show that adding milk to coffee decreases antioxidant activity and cuts the absorption of chlorogenic acids in the bloodstream, but adding soymilk does not. Chlorogenic acids are compounds that have been proven to have favourable effects on longevity.

So, if you want to add milk to your coffee, add soymilk. Dark chocolate is similarly more beneficial than chocolate blends with more milk, for the same reason.

90,000 people over 30 years! That's a decent study. It found that a small dose of olive oil daily significantly improved life expectancy - see item #2.

Dieting is hard, and part of the challenge is that it makes you hungry and want to snack. Help is at hand. Eating more for breakfast was found to reduce hunger and appetite for the rest of the day, while not adding weight - see item #1.

Here are the topics I have chosen for you to help you live longer better:

⭑ Reduce temptation by eating more at breakfast ✔ stick with your diet
⭑ Olive oil extends lifespan ✔ couldn’t be easier, could it?
⭑ How to break away from automatic negative thoughts Are you ready?
⭑ Build your brain-muscle coordination with this overhead press

01 Timing of Daily Calorie Loading Effects Appetite And Hunger​

If you're struggling with hunger during a diet, it might be time to go big at breakfast.

A recent study (September 2022) in Cell Metabolism found that those who consume more calories in the morning report significantly lower hunger throughout the day.

Participants in the study were all overweight/obese (BMI 27–42 kg/m2) but otherwise healthy. All ate the same number of calories each day. One half ate most in the morning, the other half ate more in the evening.

All participants lost the same amount of weight. But those who ate more in the morning felt less hungry during the day.

⇒ This suggests that consuming more calories at breakfast may help you stick to your diet long-term.

What it means for us: The takeaway is that feeling less hungry means less temptation to eat, and this means more chance of sticking to your weight-loss program.

If you are not a breakfast eater then also consider this - there are other benefits to having a good breakfast. Research conducted at the University of Colorado studied 3,700 people over 6 years. They found that people who skipped breakfast were more likely to develop diabetes. The risk was highest for people who skipped breakfast every day. The risk was also higher for people who didn’t eat breakfast regularly.

Another study followed 2,324 adults over the course of 12 years and found that those who skipped breakfast were 34% more likely to develop diabetes than those who ate breakfast every day.

Finally, having a lighter dinner (earlier in the evening), and then nothing else, has been identified as the best way to stimulate the effective flushing of our brain while we sleep (as we touched on in last week's newsletter).

These are some good reasons to have a good breakfast. I admit, I am biased, because I have always enjoyed having breakfast :)​​​

Related: Skipping Breakfast May Make You More Likely To Develop Diabetes - Research​

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02 Eating More Olive Oil Linked to Longer Life Span​

Consuming a small amount of olive oil every day may help you live longer, according to an observational study.

Researchers looked at health data from about 90,000 people over a period of nearly 30 years. Participants were free of heart disease and cancer and completed dietary questionnaires every four years. They were asked how often, on average, they ate specific foods, including types of fats and oils.

The study found that those who consumed at least a teaspoon of olive oil each day were 21 percent less likely to die over the follow-up period than those who did not consume any olive oil.

The benefits were even greater for those who consumed two or more tablespoons of olive oil each day, who were 34 percent less likely to die over the follow-up period.

⇒ The health benefits of olive oil were most pronounced for heart disease and cancer, but also for reduced neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia).

What this means for us: Olive oil is a healthy fat that is high in antioxidants. It helps reduce inflammation due to an antioxidant by the name of oleocanthal. Oleocanthal happens to work similarly to ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug we're all familiar with - without the side effects.

Olive Oil also helps us absorb vitamins A, D, E and K and minerals such as calcium, magnesium and potassium.

The study showed that consuming at least half a tablespoon daily was beneficial, and for 3 tablespoons daily the benefits were even more pronounced.

If you are not eating three tablespoons already, think about creative ways to add more to your diet e.g. in protein shakes and smoothies, across the top of any salad in addition to a shop-bought dressing, in oatmeal if you have this for breakfast, in an omelette, and in sauces and soups.

Use cold-pressed olive oil for best results. Processed olive oil is extracted using heat and pressure. This destroys many of the nutrients found in the olives.

On the other hand, cold-pressed olive oil is made from olives that have not been heated during processing. This results in a higher level of antioxidants, vitamins A, C and E. It also contains less saturated fat.

Younger skin is a bonus from using cold-pressed olive oil since the higher level of antioxidants helps fight free radicals that are responsible for our aging skin. It also helps prevent wrinkles by improving blood flow.

Caveat: Beware the many crime-gang scams selling industrial-processed olive oil as cold-pressed. It's a big business in Europe. Buy trusted and local oil if you can.

My Pro Tip (that you won't find elsewhere!): Add your choice of high-quality cold-pressed olive oil AFTER boiling or microwaving. Cooking adversely affects the antioxidant quality that we desire by adding oil. See my Related post below.

Related: ​How To Cook Antioxidant-Rich Foods Without Destroying Their Antioxidants​

@Medium - Follow my publication there↗, covering ⭑food, ⭑brain, ⭑body, ⭑life

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03 Break Free From 3 Self-sabotaging ANTs — Automatic Negative Thoughts​

Rising uncertainty can lead to a thought pattern of assuming the worse. We can see it in people around us.

Assuming the worst is a common form of negative thinking known as automatic negative thought or ANT. This type of reaction can lead us to interpret everyday events in unbalanced ways, without examining the actual evidence at hand.

Some common categories of ANT include all-or-nothing thinking, over-generalisation, mental filter, discounting the positive, jumping to conclusions, and personalisation. ANTs tend to strike when we’re anxious or depressed.

The "all or nothing" ANT leaves us stuck in good or bad, success or failure, with no middle ground between the two extremes. The "should" ANT makes you feel guilty when you’ve done something you "shouldn’t," and angry and resentful of others who break your invisible "should."

The "discounting the positive" ANT convinces you that positive experiences don’t count for one reason or another - and you can always find a reason.

⇒ While it may take some time to reverse long-held ANTs, it is ultimately possible. The first trick is to take a mental step back and view your negative thoughts as understandable but ultimately unhelpful.

What this means for us: The first step is the hardest - to take a step back - because you have to almost view yourself from the outside.

Here's the biggest tip that I can give you: if you have come to truly believe that your automatic negative thoughts are unhelpful for your life and relationships, then you are ready to take the next step.

Being able to see your previous behaviour as unhelpful does not mean that it was wrong or that you were inadequate. It simply means that it served a purpose for you, in the past, that no longer serves you constructively.

Try these three tips to start your journey to reducing your automatic negative thoughts (1) Catch the thought, (2) Write it down, (3) Examine the evidence.

1. Catch the thought. Notice how you frame what happens to you. Anytime you use a word that’s absolute, thinking something is ‘totally’ this or that, remind yourself that it can’t be. By catching the thought and framing it in a more positive light, you can train your brain to start thinking more optimistically.

2. Write it down. Sometimes seeing your thoughts on paper — which engages a different part of your brain — can spur you to evaluate them more effectively. This allows you to see the thoughts on paper and evaluate them more effectively. You can also write a conclusion in a friendly tone of voice to give yourself some closure on the thought.

3. Examine the evidence for and against your thoughts. If you’ve been laid off, are you really an idiot who can’t hold a job? Or is it just the new boss, as with Elon Musk and Twitter? The facts might state differently: you have a college degree and have held several jobs long-term. By realising this, you are allowing yourself to see the situation for what it is and to move on - but without the same downward cascade that "it’s over" and things will never change.

Practice noticing when you’re falling into automatic negative thoughts, pause, and then work your way out using one of the above techniques.

This is the first step toward climbing out, and you will improve with practice.

Related: How To Find Purpose In Your life Without Feeling Like You Are Endlessly Chasing Your Tail​

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04 Double Kettlebell Bottoms-Up Overhead Press

Our exercise of the week is... again, a double overhead press. This time with a big difference. Last week's press concentrated on holding tension, for example by "pulling the dumbbell down" from the overhead extended position. This week we are going "bottom-up", with kettlebells.

Today's very simple exercise evokes a strong neuromuscular activation. It looks deceptively like a pure shoulder exercise, but practising this bottoms-up version teaches you to use all your body's various parts in harmony. Beginning from the feet up, you will need to keep tension in your legs, glutes, abs, and lats before you even begin to initiate your press.

Then... you'll need a powerful grip. Very powerful, because you are going to hold an unstable object vertically while it takes every opportunity to use gravity to beat you.

This means if your wrist bends too far forward or backward, you will lose control and the bell will flop over. Preventing this from happening forces you to accommodate the subtle shifts in balance that occur as you press the weight overhead and lower it back to the start position.

⇒ Working on this aspect of your grip will help strengthen your neurological connection to your hands, while also improving strength in the muscles of your hands, wrists, and forearms.

What this means for us: You'll need kettlebells for this one. The exercise is performed by holding a kettlebell upside-down with the bottom of the kettlebell facing up. Then, pressing the kettlebell(s) overhead while maintaining a strong grip. Start with one hand only, and progress to one kettlebell in each hand (see video).

Start with a light weight; you only need 3 or 4 kg, say 5 to 10 lbs.

1. Curl the bell up in one hand while assisting with your opposite hand (if you are competent in a kettlebell clean then clean to a stacked position). The bottom of the bell is on top - facing towards the ceiling.

2. Tuck your elbow into your side and hold your bell hand directly in front of your shoulder, your hand turned at 90-degrees to your body. Squeeze your thumb around the handle so that it is touching your first two fingers, but don't exhaust yourself with the squeeze.

3. To press the kettlebell overhead, begin by inhaling (into your tummy) and bracing your abs. Then, push your feet into the ground, tense your grip and press the kettlebell overhead, exhaling gently.

4. Your elbow should be locked out at the top of the press, and the kettlebell should be balanced directly over the shoulder. Hold for 8 seconds (not like the video).

5. Lower the kettlebell, by allowing the weight to pull your hand down to the starting position - inhaling gently. The kettlebell should end up back in the bottoms-up position, with the bottom of the ball facing up and the handle pointing downwards.

Sets: Do 1 set of 3 reps per arm, or if you are up to doing both arms together, just do 3 reps and that's enough.

Level-ups: (1) When strong enough do both arms together, (2) Then go to a heavier kettlebell and start again with one arm, (3) Extend the grip to get to 30 seconds.

Variation: Do 3 sets of 8 reps with each arm (as in the video with no hold at the top).

When doing this exercise regularly you will notice how much stronger you become.

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I will add today's exercise above to my free app, so look out for it.

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.

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Thanks for reading!

>> My Latest Blog Post: How Many Pistachios Should I Eat For Sleep and When?​

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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'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.

Resources for you:

​How To Go From On-knee to Full Pushups, and Reap The Benefits​

​The Exact Slow Pace You Must Run and Cycle To Max Fat-Burning​

​As You Age Pistachios Can Help You Sleep Better​

​I Started Trail Running At 70. Besides Being Bitten By A Dog I Love It​

​Vitamin D Is Free Yet We Don’t Get Enough And Our Health Is Suffering​

​​Why Walnuts Lower Heart Disease and Help You Sleep Better​

​Measuring Your Waist Will Tell You If You Are On Your Way To Diabetes​

​​How Avoiding A High Viral Load Can Save Your Life - Coronavirus​

​How To Keep Your Weight Off With Daily Walks — 5 Fun Level-ups That Everyone Can Do​

​This One Exercise Will Reshape Your Body And Your Brain, If You’re Game​

​The Surprising Way Hip Flexors Pull You Down Into An Elderly Stoop And ​Shuffle, And How To Avoid It​

​Shining Light On Infrared Therapy - It Helped Unlock My Shoulder​

​People With Problems Want To Give Them To You. Here’s How To Not Accept Them​

​​Forget Beetroot Juice, Eat More Vegetables For Nitrate Potency And Longer Life​

​Drink This Many Cups Of Coffee Daily For Better Health​

​Dizziness And Cataracts - Is There A Link?​

​Walking Barefoot Improves Your Brain, Balance, Soul And Reduces Running Injuries​

​Rebuilding Your Fast-twitch Muscles Doesn’t Require Fast Movements​

​Rebuilding Your Fast-twitch Muscles Doesn’t Require Fast Movements. Rebuild Your Balance in 2 Minutes Daily​

​How To Get The Health Benefits Of Black Tea - Even If You Don't Like Drinking It​

​The Surprising Benefits of Black Tea Daily​

​How To Exercise And Eat In Your 40s To Live Longer Better - Ten Tips​

​Brain Health Is Boosted By Eating Less, Often — Here’s How To Start​

​Don’t Distract Your Immune System By Poor Dental Hygiene​

​Are You Ab-Wheel Rolling To Back Pain? I Was — Not Now​

​How To Sleep Better And Recover Like Elite Soccer Players​

Every one of these weekly emails has [4MV] in the subject line to help you filter them and search for previous ones.