#zero effect on mood or cognitive functioning though

[rabbivole]

gotta say it's kind of discouraging to eliminate thc, alcohol, caffeine, and fake sugar, and also drink a lot more water, and feel no change whatsoever

i'm like one bad day away from claiming 80% of mental healthcare is pseudoscience. and brother. all my days are bad

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Weird “Drugged”

You will all have to forgive me for not posting the last few days. I went on vacation with family then had a couple tests and then ended up in the ER, so busy week, but i cooked something up for you all. Forgive me if it has issues, see above paragraph or my excuse :)

It is not specifically a human phenomenon, the use of chemicals, to help and support the body. It is, however, a much more complicated field of study for humans. Most species react the same exact way to a drug that any other member of their species would. Many of our species have found specific drugs that cause only minor physiological side effects despite their potency. The system of the non-human body has multiple unrelated systems that are unaffected by one specific drug or another

Humanity on the other hand, is a different story.

The cocktail of chemicals in the human brain integrate into a system that provides the body with a perfect storm of reactions. While most aliens only experience the physiological side effects related to the action of the drug upon an injury , say a numbing sensation or the reduced motility of digestion, humans are some of the only known species to experience extreme psychological effects due to drugs.

In many cases humans will present with wildly different reactions to the same drug as presented in this paper. Though, I find that the most interesting drug reaction, in humans to be those that take place in the brain, specifically the ones causing, or related to sedation, weather that sedation b mild or complete.

…. Let's be honest though, I mostly just find it entertaining.

***

The board of surgical experts was getting ready to convene their conference about human anatomy when it happened. The Summit was taking place on the rundi homeworld courtesy of the GA council. Humanity had proven to be the most difficult species to treat, not simply for their staggering ability to stay alive, but for the numerous drug actions and reactions that could take place in the body.. Rill had been planning to do a lecture during the session, but as per usual, he was cut off by the humans.

The council doors thundered open and one of the marines ran into the room causing quite a stir. Those clinicians who had never before seen a human gasped in shock and awe at the creature’s powerful speed and grace. He came skidding to a stop at the center of the room, barely winded head turning, dark eyes frantically searching the room and zeroing in on Krill, who stood at the front of the auditorium.

“Kill, Krill, something happened. We need your help like, right now..”

If krill had had the capability to roll his eyes, he would have. Taking care of humans was a disaster sometimes. The rest of the auditorium took to their feet in curiosity and, fear, in some cases.

“What happened now?” he wondered 

The marine rubbed the back of his head a little sheepishly, “Well uh, we were just messing around.”

“Save me the story and get to the point.”

The marine’s shoulder;s slumped, “The commander dislocated his shoulder.”

The room muttered in some confusion.

Krill sighed, “Of course he did because who else would it be.” He turned back to look at the other assembled medical professionals, “Well come now, class. It seems that today has favored us with a perfect teaching opportunity.”

Hesitantly the rest of the medical professionals followed watching the human prowl along before them with some trepidation.

They found the human sitting outside on the steps of the GA headquarters cradling his arm in one hand as two others attempted to help him support the it, “Shit, shit shit, this hurts.” The man moaned piteously. One of the assistants shifted as he saw the group of doctors coming, but quickly returned to position as the human yelped in pain, “Shit, not like that…... “ Many of the medical professionals had never heard a human distress call before. It was a surprising amalgamation of moaning, hissing and the occasional yip, not to mention the strangely  random words, that later had to be explained as profanities.

Krill took charge immediately moving up around the side of the human and dropping down to examine the injured limb.

“Morning doc.” The human said voice unusually slow.

Krill thumped him lightly over the back of the head, “always, always you. Every single time I am busy your body decides to malfunction.” The human mewed pitifully.

A hand raised, “is hitting them in the head part of the treatment.”

Krill sighed, “Only for this one.” He moved over to the side of the human pulling up the strange fibrous covering to reveal the horrible disfigurement below. The medical professionals gasped and muttered in surprise. The skin about the upper limb was bowed upwards unnaturally the arm held awkwardly out before him. What horrible accident could have caused an injury like that…. Well they couldn’t have said. It would be a horrible issue to have for the rest of his life.

Krill prodded around the skin, “Can you feel this.”

The human nodded. Despite what must have been excruciating pain the human had now become very quiet. Its single, wide green eye, the other one was covered by some sort of strange patch, was glassy and distant. When he was asked a question, his answers were clear and concise but very slow.

“alright , the group of you pick him up and bring him inside, try to keep that arm still.” They watched in surprise as a team of humans coordinated themselves to pick up their fellow, grabbing him about the uninjured arm and legs. Awkwardly they shuffled him inside to where Krill ushered them, slowly placing him onto the demonstrative medical equipment that had turned into an impromptu hospital. The other aliens gathered about.

The human refused to lay back hissing in pain when the arm was jostled into the wrong direction. 

Krill turned to look at his audience. “What I will demonstrate next is a simple procedure.” At his words the crowd looked rather skeptical muttering and chatting to themselves, “The bone has been pulled from the socket and needs to be reset as soon as possible. It will be a simple push inwards to correct the damage. However, The muscles about the injury may tighten making it difficult and painful for the patient while awake, so we will induce unconsciousness and give analgesic medications for the pain.” He ordered a few of his people around as the human cradled his arm staring off into space with a blank expression. He continued to be responsive and answer questions though he was even slower than normal.

With some instruction from the doctor, the other professionals brought forward the correct medication.

Krill huffed when he saw the label on the bottle.

“Something wrong doctor?”

“No,” Sigh, “He’s just a handful coming out of this one…. Is this all we have.” 

“I am afraid so.” 

“Well I suppose we are all in for a treat then.” he responded. Adjusting a clear tube about the human’s face running under the protruding sensory organ. Another was being instructed on the placement of an IV into the vein of the hand seeing as the human would not unfurl himself to allow access to the inner arm.

Once that was done, the drug was administered. The human’s eye closed, and he went limp falling backward, lowered slowly by a few other humans, seemingly unaware of the pain that he must have been in, “Now it is important to keep a human speaking after the initial trauma even if you may have to ask the same questions multiple times. Now intense pain and shock can sometimes have similar symptoms, but as long as the human is responsive everything is alright and you don’t have to worry about shock. I wouldn't consider a dislocation something that will cause shock in most cases.” 

He moved forward, “Now we are going to do what is called a closed reduction, and simply pop the tip of the bone back into place. I will position my hands here and here, and-” Those with especially good ears heard he grinding pop as the bone slid back into place, the convex surface of skin that had been displaced before falling back into its original position.

They grimaced. It looked horrific.

Krill demonstrated the administration of pain medication and gave a time estimate of when the human would likely to wake up.

“Be warned, these medications tend to have a very severe effect on the cognitive function of a human, you can expect to see mood changes, confusion, slurred or slowed speech, inattentiveness, difficulty focusing, and in this one’s case the need for hand restraints.”

The room muttered.

“You will see why.”

***

Krill had not been lying. The human woke slowly foggy  green eye out of focus on glassy. His hands pawed at the blankets below him wandering over the bed until he found the tue to the IV. Krill was forced to pul it away.

“Commander… Commander, how are you feeling.”

The human’s head lolled to the side flopping limply to one side, “Where am I” His speech was slurred just as predicted.’ He grabbed at the Iv tube again, and Krill was forced to pull it away, “No, keep still ok.”

“Okayyyyy.” The human responded groggily.

He seemed pretty happy for someone who should have been in tons of pain.

“How are you feeling?” Krill repeated.

The human didn’t answer head turning this way and that eye wide with curiosity. He looked at his arm, “Oh….. my arm is ok…. That’s gooooood.” 

“Commander, try to focus.”

The human did not focus.

Instead he reached a hand out to prod at the little nodes attached to his chest. He began peeling one away. They were forced to take his hand.

“Commander.”

“Yeeee?” 

“Can you answer my questions?”

The human nodded widely grinning,, but then seemed to completely forget what he had been asked reaching a hand out to touch one of the machines before being intercepted, “Hey, hey, hey.”

“Yes commander.”

“Wait…. I i forgot… I’m not making any sense…. Am I making any sense.” He glanced towards his arm, “oh my arm is back in place…. That’s good.”

“Yes .” Krill said reassuringly

In the next moment a Drev stepped into the room. She was small for her species, but with a striking electric blue carapace. She walked over, “Why do you insist on getting hurt when I’m not here.”

The human didn’t answer staring at her with a wide green eye. She paused by the bed, and he continued his scrutiny reaching out a hand to stroke the armor of her forearm, “Pretty…. Blue is my favorite color. My best friend is blue too.”

“Adam, I’m right here.”

The human looked up, “Oh ... hi, I didn’t see you there. I saw someone who was just the same color as you, “Pretty…..” 

“That was me, Adam.”

“Ohhhhh….. Wait…. That was you.”

“Yes, Adam, that was me.” She didn’t seem perturbed by answering his questions instead taking his hands gently in two of her four and immobilizing them as Krill attempted to slip a sling over one arm.

The human whimpered.

“You’re ok.” the Drev said, “I just need you to hold still.

The human mad a few more distressed noises before becoming distracted by something else, “Sunny, Sunny.”

“Yes Adam.”

“My shoulder is back in…. That’s good.”

The Drev seemed amused, “Yes, that’s very good.”

And then the human started to cry. It was very strange, they had neer seen that before. In fact they didn't think it was physically possible to move so quickly between emotional states. Apparently humans leak from the face when they are upset. A few of the physicians postulated that this may have been an evolved  way to gain social attention from other humans. It seemed to work even on nonhumans and the Drev let him hug her arm.

“What’s wrong, Adam.”

The human shook his head, “I-dont know.” That seemed to upset him even more until something else caught his attention and he was back to being as pleased as he had been originally. The drug was everything and more than Krill had said it would be. The large Drev had to keep the human’s hands immobilized, and even then he still managed to cause trouble. It was  a wonder that humans managed to do anything in their daily lives if the inside of their heads were like this. Their attentional ability normally must have been herculean to focus this dumpster fire.

It was extremely interesting to watch the human slowly recover himself. At some point he finally began to understand that he wasn’t acting normal despite still acting abnormal. After that came the ability to pay attention and converse normally. Even then he was still doing things that only made sense in a roundabout way. 

His voice was no longer slurred, but slow. He seemed almost groggy, but not quite. His previous emotional state had evened out.

“Feel like I got hit by a train.” he groaned. One eye flicked about the audience, “Shit, I didn’t interrupt anything did I?”

Krill let of a deep sigh, “sometimes I wonder if it is your mission in life to interrupt everything I do,” He raised a hand to cut off the human’s apology, “And AS USUAL you somehow still managed to be helpful.”

And that is why the new transuniversal internet currency is not videos of cats, but humans waking up from surgery because, let's be honest, humans on drugs are kind of funny 

[uberdriverdavid-blog]

Understanding Clinical Depression: Case Study Of Myself

I'm writing this for many reasons, but mainly because people rarely understand what Clinical Depression is, or what my particular form of Clinical Depression is like.

First I’ll describe Clinical Depression as briefly as I can. After that, I’ll describe my particular type of Clinical Depression.

Clinical Depression:

~ Is NOT simply “feeling sad”, as people constantly misuse the term – most of whom have never experienced clinical depression. In many forms of Clinical Depression, individuals a) don't feel sad, but b) have symptoms including inability to eat, sleep, move physically (AKA psychomotor retardation), socialize, recreate, take care of their health, or do constructive activity (including working for money).

~ Can also include insomnia of various kinds; hypersomnia; no motivation or willpower to do anything whatsover; inability to enjoy anything (including food or entertainment); inability to think, reason, or concentrate, to various degrees; loss of interest in life, to various degrees – mild to total; suicidal ideation; suicidal tendencies; and suicide attempts.  

~ Is DEFINED by not being able to function adequately – not being able to work for money, work on chores or errands, socialize, or take care of one's health adequately. If you can do all these things, but feel “down” or “sad”, it's NOT Clinical Depression, and is totally normal.

~ Is statistically proven to be the #1 reason / precursor to suicide.

~ Medications may or may not help, but usually does, to some degree – once people find the right medication for them – which could take days, months, or years

~ Is almost always helped, to varying degrees, by cognitive-behavioral therapy. Cognitive therapy deals with changing a person's cognitions; behavioral therapy deals with changing a person's actions. There are hundreds of proven techniques that work for clinical depression for each type, and they're almost always used in conjunction, leading to the term Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (AKA CBT).

~ Is almost always helped by physical exercise.

~ May be totally physical & unrelated to one's situation/environment, or totally dependent on such, or (usually) is some mixture.  

My particular form of clinical depression:

~ Is purely situational / environment-based. This has been proven countless times. In an adequate safe/sane/stable living environment, with access to medications and therapy and exercise, adequate housing, adequate health food, and adequate income to afford my basic needs, I have NEVER been clinically depressed. I'll have “down days” and “bad days”, but I can deal with those and keep functioning, working, taking care of my health, socializing, enjoying recreation, doing chores and errands, eating, sleeping, etc. And: Whenever I’ve been clinically depressed, it has ONLY been after severe, prolonged lack of one of those needs.

~ Began occurring regularly in 1998 – 21 years ago. Before 1998, I suffered Clinical Depression only rarely, only a few times, and was able to recover because I was able to get my basic needs met, one way or another, and get back to working or studying full-time.  

~ Since 1998, I have been in depressive states about as often as non-depressive states. The difference has been whether I'm getting my needs met.

~ Is a component of a vicious cycle that I've been struggling against for 21 years: If I don't have my needs met for months in a row, severe Clinical Depression results – which then results in not being able to work for money adequately – which results in not being able to afford adequate housing or healthcare or health food or medications, and also results in not being able to exercise or socialize – which reinforces the depression, completing the cycle.

~ Is a component of my legal diagnosis as being “Bipolar Type I” AKA “Manic Depressive” – which was also purely situational: I would get manic episodes or depressive episodes whenever I couldn't get my needs met for a prolonged theory of time. (Currently, and for many years, I have not gotten in any manic episodes, though, because of 2 mood-stabilizing medications that work on such, but do not keep Clinical Depression from happening.)

~ Is virtually guaranteed to continue as long as I'm unable to get more than $850/month income (from Disability Insurance), which is a few hundred dollars less per month than I realistically need to satisfy my basic needs, especially basic housing. The simple truth is that I do not get enough of an income to live a sane, stable, healthy life on, especially when homeless (which happens on a regular basis, because I don't have the money for a decent place to live). The best housing I can afford on this income would be a small room with strangers in Tucson, where living expenses are lower than practically anywhere else in the US. I could actually get an adequate room, with tolerable roommates, for about $400/month. However, finding roommates who are tolerable or even sane is an extremely difficult, time-consuming, and wildly uncertain process. People who present themselves as nice, friendly, and tolerable often turn out to be one or more of the following: unreasoanable, irrational, drug addicts, drug dealers, criminals, deranged, depraved, thieves, liars, lunatics, or they just can’t tolerate me for very long for whatever reasons. I have had around 26 roommates over the decades, and only about 20% of them have been tolerable or better; while every one of them seemed reasonable and friendly on the surface. Also: most roommate situations involve young college students who do not want to live with someone who isn't also a young college student. And then there are too many other difficulties to mention – such as those who don't want to live with someone “Bipolar” or depressed.

~ While in Clinical Depression, I cannot exercise or take adequate care of my health, or afford therapy or health food, and so my mental, physical, and physiological health continually deteriorate. This is one reason why people diagnosed as Bipolar I or Chronic Depressive typically die 20 years early, on average, according to the statistics.

The main basic need I have that I have extreme difficulty in getting met is that of adequate housing. The current plan to get this met is to get a room in Tucson with people that I've thoroughly screened. But I've done this before, and the chance of failure is enormous. I think that, with weeks of constant effort, my chance of finding a tolerable roommate is about 50%, at the very best.

I once had a tiny run-down studio apartment in Tucson for $400/month that worked out adequately 15 years ago, and I was not depressed at all during this time. However, a) that studio would cost about $500/month now, and b) was far from the city center, which was a problem even when I had a car, but would be an enormous problem without a car. (The reason I left that apartment was because all my friends had moved to Seattle, and I wanted to live with them – which I did – which didn't work out, because almost no one likes living too close to anyone else for very long, and the situation just gets increasingly difficult and stressful as people get on each other's nerves).

Was considering moving back to Luke's, but this looks unlikely, as he won't write me back.

Am also considering bike camping / touring at free campgrounds throughout CA (there are hundreds of them), though this looks very difficult, too stressful and harsh, and likely to result in clinical depression as I'd effectively be homeless, alone, and without a therapist or even a pet. It would also be somewhat dangerous at night, possibly lethal, in unfamiliar campgrounds or Slab City part of the time. But this would make the most sense economically, as my SSDI would go up to $1050/month or so for being a) homeless & b) in California; while I'd have zero rent, and could get most of my food from food banks, so I'd have about $500/month left over for saving up for a van or minivan or motorhome to live out of.

The core problem is that SSDI simply doesn’t pay enough for me to live on.

The final solution to the resulting predicament I’m in, and a permanent end to the vicious cycle I’m in, can only happen if I have a good, safe, healthy housing option that is guaranteed to work out AND that I can definitely afford with just SSDI (because I cannot rely on my ability to hold a full-time job right now).

Since getting affordable housing has proven next to impossible, my plan is to save up for a van, minivan, or motorhome, then to live at free campgrounds, which is something I could definitely tolerate, and I’d be able to work on web design & political projects & writings with my laptop tethered to my cell phone from virtually anywhere.  And free rent, most food coming from food banks, and getting the maximum SSDI of $1050/month, I’d be able to save $500-$550/month for emergencies, repairs, health problems, and a better life in general.

[pass-the-bechdel]

Homicide: Life on the Street season five full review

How many episodes pass the Bechdel test?

36.36% (eight of twenty-two).

What is the average percentage per episode of female characters with names and lines?

31.18%

How many episodes have a cast that is at least 40% female?

Three (episode twelve ‘Betrayal’ (40%), episode sixteen ‘Valentine’s Day’ (41.17%), and episode seventeen ‘Kaddish’ (50%)).

How many episodes have a cast that is less than 20% female?

Zero.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Fifty-three. Fifteen who appeared in more than one episode, two who appeared in at least half the episodes, and one who appeared in every episode.

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

ONE HUNDRED. Twenty-six who appeared in more than one episode, seven who appeared in at least half the episodes, and four who appeared in every episode.

Positive Content Status:

The overall quality of the representation is changing with the quality of the show itself; it’s still solidly good stuff, and there are some distinct highlights across the season, but in totality it feels less incisive than it has in the past, and less self-aware (average rating of 3.09).

General Season Quality:

As above - still solidly good stuff, some distinct highlights, but less incisive and less self-aware as the writing caves to the pressure to be more generic and ‘traditionally entertaining’. There’s still no single episode here that I would call ‘bad’, but the comparison to previous seasons definitely comes up lacking.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) under the cut:

My opening credit sequence!!! Let us all take a moment to bow our heads and remember the scratchy black-and-white montage of the original, CLASSIC opening titles, with the faces of the characters looming ominously out of the shadows. It set the mood for the show perfectly, it was iconic, it was perfect. In their increasingly hilarious desperation to make the show into something flashy and generic for the masses, the network has henceforth replaced that wonderful sequence with a bizarre rainbow array of neon lights and random crime-y words overlaying stock images of crime-y stuff, complete with nice, glowing, DEEPLY NINETIES shots of the cast being zoomed past the camera. It’s awful. It’s funny. It’s infinitely more dated than the original titles could ever have been. And it has abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with the show. No grainy shots of Baltimore landmarks. No artistic interplay of light and darkness. No barking dog (how DARE they take that from me!). Where the old sequence prepared the viewer for a show about serious unlovely business, this replacement caws: “CRIME! CRIME CRIME! Bright colours! Pretty people! Crime stuff! Popping, exciting, colourful crime! Nineties! CRIME!” Welcome to season five of Homicide: Life on the Street. It’s not as good as the previous seasons.

Now, in fairness, the show hasn’t changed in any major fundamental way (which makes that new opening credits sequence even more embarrassing, like the execs really thought a ‘cool’ header would convince audiences that the show was hip and fun now), and this is still both solid viewing in its own right, and better viewing than most of its contemporaries (and a lot of what’s on today, for sure). I’d also like to acknowledge something that is kinda being lost in translation due to my (STILL TERRIBLE) decision to make these posts summary-only, and that’s the actual number of named-and-speaking female characters per episode. Because the average when compared to the number of men on the floor isn’t that inspiring (as noted in previous posts, it’s still shockingly high compared to the standard set by other shows of the time/genre), but the number, independent of its comparison to men? The most common incidence this season was to have seven female characters in any given episode (eight of the twenty-two episodes this season boast that many). There are two episodes this season with eight women in compliment, and four others which managed six; the lowest number of women in any episode was three (which happened twice). Of course, when the flip side of that is a number of men which only once dipped into single digits (’Kaddish’, a balanced eight and eight), you still wind up with a less than thrilling average. But having six or more women around for the vast majority of the season? That’s practically unheard of, even in most modern shows - even some female-driven shows don’t always boast so many, though they make up for it (usually) with 1. less male characters, and 2. more story and screen time for their female characters - I won’t pretend that Homicide’s women get a comparable amount of narrative time and attention as its men, but it is not to their exclusion. To have so many women around is especially rare in anything male-dominated or masculine-coded (like, oh, everything that counts within the ‘crime’ genre), and for far too many shows, three women in an episode is a surprisingly large number, not the absolute minimum. Whatever other criticisms I have (and I’ve got ‘em!) for this season, that thing I’ve acknowledged before, about how this show manages to be fairly nonchalantly inclusive of women despite the odds? That still holds true.

MEANWHILE, IN CRITICISM LAND: this season feels a lot more serialised than previous seasons have, and I - normally a vocal supporter of serialised television over episodic - do not love it. The episodic nature of the show is a given - cases come and go - and as such, the thing that increases the serialised approach here is an increase in personal dramas, and specifically, an increase in narratives that take place outside of work and sometimes entirely independent of it. Obviously, the characters always had personal lives, and sometimes their personal lives impacted their work, and sometimes that impact rolled out in a protracted fashion over multiple episodes or even a whole swathe of a season (I’m mostly thinking about the disaster of Beau Felton’s marriage and his descent into alcoholism which formed such a significant part of his story in season three). The difference was that in previous seasons, these personal life developments felt more like they existed simply because these things happen in real life, and the focus was predominantly on the way that such events interact with the work the characters do, because that’s what the show is about, after all: life as a homicide detective, not life as a person who also incidentally happens to be a cop. I don’t hate any of what they were doing in this season, and some of it has serious merit, but altogether it does feel a lot more dramatic and distracting than what has come before, more manufactured, and more like it exists to create conflict in the characters lives instead of just letting them be who and what they are, and let the story come naturally from that.

We’ll start with Pembleton: in the season four finale, Pembleton had a stroke. This season begins with his first day back on the job - such as it is - and it’s not smooth sailing. Pembleton’s ability to perform his duties is physically impaired, he’s limping, he doesn’t have a full range of motion, he can’t drive, and he’s stuck on desk duty until he can re-qualify on the gun range. But he’s also having cognitive difficulties: he has a major stutter, his memory struggles even on small things like names, numbers, or simple spelling that he has known since childhood, and his mind wanders or makes leaps not pertinent to his current situation (as when he fails his first attempt at the gun range after becoming distracted by the dual meaning of the word ‘magazine’). Remembering Stan Bolander being evaluated before receiving approval to return to active duty after being shot in season three, it’s hard to imagine Pembleton receiving the same seal of approval under these circumstances. By the end of the season, he’s getting along just fine and it’s like the stroke never happened, and whether that degree of recovery is realistic or not, I feel like it’s unrealistic for him to have been sent back to work when he was not even close to being capable of actually doing the work. I feel like the writers were too busy indulging in the range of side-effects that a stroke can have in order to make the consequences dramatic, they overplayed the whole idea and then had to walk it back in order to have the character be functional within the narrative. Pembleton’s stroke has everything to do with the dramatic potential of disabilities, but nothing to do with a realistic assessment of the long-term consequences those disabilities might have on his ability to work or play like he used to, and that’s a sad disappointment for the veracity this show once represented.

Meanwhile - though I welcome the decision to include Pembleton’s wife Mary in the story more often - the strain on the Pembleton marriage reaches critical mass, and it’s not hard to see why: though Pembleton says the words out loud to other characters (”Mary’s been so good with everything”, etc), he’s erratic, self-absorbed, and inconsiderate in his home life, and his behaviour toward Mary reflects little gratitude or even recognition for the colossal amount of work that she has put in to both caring for Frank after his stroke, and caring for their newborn child born not long before said stroke. Mary is an unsung superhero in the Pembleton home, and it’s understandable that Frank is very preoccupied with his own recovery, but it’s not acceptable that he fails to respect the struggle that Mary has been through at his side. Even after she leaves him, Frank doesn’t really seem to acknowledge his own shortcomings - Mary didn’t leave him because he had a stroke and she couldn’t deal (he was ‘better’ by this point), she left him because she was done with being ignored and having herself and their child treated like completely secondary considerations in Frank’s life, after his own self-image - and when he petitions Mary to return, it’s still all in terms of what having his family around means to HIM. He’s miserably eating Mary’s cooking from the freezer and feeling sorry about the fact that she’s not there to make him more, and he wants her back because he loves her, sure, but also because being a husband and father is part of his self-image, and that’s what his entire personal arc this season boils down to, stroke, job, separation, and all: it’s about Frank Pembleton’s all-important concept of self, to the exclusion of any concern, respect, or basic recognition for the other people in his life and their own wants or needs or value as individuals whose lives do not actually revolve around him. 

Pembleton also has dramas with his partner Bayliss, which is par for the course at this point and mostly pretty useless as a result: how many times has one or the other of them declare that they don’t want to be partners anymore, and then they dance around one another for several episodes before admitting that, yeah, actually they do want to work together after all? Brodie hangs a lantern on it, but that doesn’t make it any more compelling to watch. What is more compelling - and actually a well-earned character revelation which makes a huge amount of sense when compared to past evidence - is Bayliss’ confession that he was sexually abused by his uncle when he was a child. Bayliss actually mentioned it - in an obfuscated fashion, substituting ‘cousin’ for ‘uncle’ and claiming not to remember what happened - back in season three when he and Pembleton were talking about whether or not they’d ever had a gay-questioning moment, and in that context we can see how Bayliss’ homophobia has manifested from that experience, as well as his disdain for anything he considers sexually ‘perverse’ - Pembleton has accused Bayliss of being sexually repressed on more than one occasion, and this revelation shows us that the repression is not out of ignorance or puritanism so much as it is a gut reaction to anything which reminds him of the childhood abuse he has tried so hard to hide. That doesn’t make it ok for him to be a homophobe, but it explains, and it’s necessary for Bayliss to make peace with his past in order to be open-minded and understanding of others moving forward. As much as I applaud that storytelling, the decision to have Bayliss ‘confront’ his uncle and then start taking care of the man after seeing the squalor in which he now lives kinda turns my stomach. It would be one thing, to have Bayliss take the high road and decide that compassion was more important than hate, forgiving his uncle and then moving on with his life, but what he does instead involves physical and emotional labour for his uncle’s comfort, it has cost in money, energy, and the potential to jeopardise Bayliss’ job as he is repeatedly ‘out on errands’ instead of working, and on one occasion the uncle even calls him at work and asks him to come out to his place NOW and bring him stuff, which Bayliss does after initially refusing. The whole situation plays not like compassionate forgiveness and healing (even though the show frames it that way), it looks and smells exactly like the uncle taking advantage of Bayliss’ good nature for his own gain (not just enjoying what he is given, but actively demanding and pushing for more), and that is alarming and disturbing. Of all the ways this particular facet of the plot could have played out, I am extremely troubled that this is what they went for, without any reflection upon the decision.

In a whole ‘nother direction, we have Kellerman, and his partnership with Lewis, and y’all, I am baffled. Kellerman spends half of the season on administrative duties, like Pembleton, but in his case it’s because he’s being investigated by the FBI for allegations of corruption dating back to his time in the arson unit. As with the rest of the story decisions in this season, I don’t object to this on principle, it isn’t a bad narrative arc or piece of character exploration (or deconstruction, as it turns out), but I am kinda amazed and confused that the show took BOTH of its power couples partnerships out of commission for half the season (in Lewis and Kellerman’s case, it’s actually effectively the entire season - they only partner onscreen for four cases, and one of those is a single scene, not an actual episode plot). After the Lewis/Kellerman partnership was such a breath of fresh air last season, I can’t help but feel like their separation this season was a completely deliberate decision to stop them from, what? Stepping on Bayliss/Pembleton’s toes? Bayliss and Pembleton are the only surviving partnership from the show’s first season, and even then they were framed as the ‘main’ partnership on the show - did someone get antsy about the fact that season four had used Lewis/Kellerman so effectively? Did they shoot themselves in the foot on purpose? It certainly fucking feels that way to me. It feels like they tanked Kellerman’s whole character and ruined his partnership with Lewis so that Bayliss/Pembleton could still be the big shots, and that’s very unnecessary; part of what made the first season work so well was that the cast felt more balanced, and even if there was kiiinda a ‘main’ partnership, that didn’t stop the rest of the partnerships from having almost equal footing and almost equal representation in episodes. Lewis/Kellerman has been the only pairing since the originals that has felt meaningful, like there’s a real working chemistry between the characters and not just ‘these two were written together for the episode, because’ (as with, say, Munch/Russert in the second half of last season, which I often forget was even a thing because it was such a nonentity). I’m so mad about this. Pro tip: I will get madder, next season.

Anyway: Kellerman’s arc. It’s not bad, in and of itself (though I could have absolutely done without the ill-advised visit from the Kellerman brothers, that was crap from every angle). But surely, having Kellerman’s life/career unravel regardless of his innocence is an arc they could have achieved in a more intensified fashion, one that sidelined him for less of the season? Surely there was a better way to do this than to just waste him for eleven episodes? I’m not going to wish away the arc in its entirety, because despite being mostly frustrating, it did deliver us the best episode of the season in the form of ‘Have a Conscience’, Kellerman’s first episode back on the job after being cleared of any wrongdoing, and the only episode to truly use the Lewis/Kellerman partnership in the way that the previous season did. Down on the seeming futility of their work and the lingering damage that has been done to his reputation, Kellerman contemplates suicide, and for twenty minutes of screen time, Lewis works his way around to talking him down. The show hasn’t done this kind of contained, lengthy, focused storytelling since the unparalleled ‘Three Men and Adena’ back in season one, and it is a more than welcome return to that format, volatile and tense and insightful, sometimes ugly, but always honest. And it hits all those good male bonding beats, all that lovely vulnerability in Kellerman that made me so happy in season four, and both Lewis’ desire to be open and connecting in the moment, and his tendency to spook and shut down after things get too real (there’s something really heartbreaking about Lewis’ discomfort in the following episode, when Kellerman tells him not to worry because he’s seeking professional help - as much as Lewis is haunted by Crosetti’s death and the question of whether or not he could have done anything to prevent it, he can barely look Kellerman in the eye after being confronted with what it means to help someone through crisis). For one episode, though, we have Lewis and Kellerman as we loved them in season four, being honest about their feelings and listening and supporting one another, and when Lewis gives Kellerman his jacket to keep him warm out in the chilly open air, it feels natural and right, it feels truthful, all toxic masculinity set aside so that they can get through this thing, like partners, like friends. That episode, I wouldn’t trade for a less dramatic Kellerman arc; the rest of his content in the season? Could have been better. Could have been so much better.

The other thing Kellerman had going on this season was a romance, which wasn’t too bad because the basic chemistry was there and the romance itself didn’t override or derail any other stories happening, so I’m not gonna go into it: the important thing is who the romance was with, and that would be Dr Juliana Cox, the new chief medical examiner and the new Other Woman on the show since Russert is largely absent for the majority of the season. Cox is pretty great, which was a bit of a surprise to me since I had never like Michelle Forbes in anything before and I was worried she’d ruin everything (nothing against her as an actor, she’s just always played aggressively disagreeable characters any other time I’ve seen her so I was accustomed to going ‘URGH, it’s you’). Not unlike when they introduced Russert, they do overplay Cox’s identity as a Strong Independent Woman when she first shows up, but I’m ok with it since they use the opportunity to have Cox call men out on their bullshit (the case in her introductory episode involves murdered prostitutes) and lay down the law like a total boss. It may be a little heavy-handed, but it gets the job done, and in fairness, that degree of mettle and ready combativeness if tested doesn’t dissipate over the course of the season, nor does it feel unrealistic: the true test for any new character introduced to this show is whether or not they have the naturalism and believability to fit in, and I approve Cox on those grounds: she is a character deserving of this show at its best. 

To wrap this discussion with a few more gripes and one last nod of praise: one of the problems with the more serialised storytelling and the way it revolves around the personal lives of select characters is the huge void this creates between the cast members who seem ‘important’, and the ones who don’t. Howard is still a great, self-possessed character, but the lack of any narrative for her - personal or professional - in this season is egregious. Because previous seasons were more balanced in their attention and harped on long-term personal arcs less, it didn’t matter if a character didn’t seem to have a ‘point’ on the show besides just existing, because existing is the main thing that people do: Howard doesn’t have to legitimise her existence with drama, she’s just gotta be who she is and how she is and let life take care of the rest. As soon as you start letting dramatic events take precedence, however, it starts seeming weird if everyone isn’t having them, and characters start to appear useless if they aren’t generating any drama (this is how unrealistic soap-opera storytelling happens). Kay Howard is and remains better than that, but I wish they had just let her go out on some cases and basically Do Stuff, it doesn’t have to be dramatic. Just let her do her damn job, on screen.

Speaking of underused characters, if the writer’s wanted to do the whole FBI-investigation-sidelines-a-character-for-half-a-season trick so badly, why didn’t they target someone who barely does anything to start with, someone we won’t miss in the regular rotation? Someone like...Munch. As is, the only ‘Munch episode’ in the bunch is ‘Kaddish’, which isn’t bad, but it does include some terrible flashbacks to Munch’s highschool years that are basically just every single highschool cliche ever, and the episode revolves around Munch’s old crush who has now been brutally raped and murdered, and excuse me if the continued obsession with Munch’s fixation on the fuckability of women is not my idea of a good time (ESPECIALLY when it is focused around the way he shared that desire with a number of other men in connection with this particular (VIOLENTLY! MURDERED!) woman). In context, the aspect of the episode which deals with Munch’s relationship with his Jewish faith feels completely disconnected from the rest of the content. I’m not happy about it. I’m also not happy about Brodie, still being a whiny little creep who can also add ‘spying on Howard and filming her with her boyfriend without either party’s consent’ to his roster of misconduct; as much as I have enjoyed ‘The Documentary’ in the past, under the slightest scrutiny it’s actually a total mess of an episode (and Brodie appears to be a terrible documentarian, even accepting that we don’t see every moment of what he’s made), and the entire concept is actually very plot-holed and a poorly-imagined idea of a fourth wall breaker. And speaking of misconduct, I gotta flag a pattern that’s emerging: in ‘Narcissus’, Gee doesn’t want to investigate local black community activist Burundi Robinson, despite allegations that he’s pimping out the women under his care and that he’s recently sanctioned the murder of one of his own in order to cover it up. While Gee comes around after his initial hesitation and pursues the investigation, the fact that he hesitates in the first place out of a desire to ‘protect the good Robinson is doing in the community’ is frustratingly deaf to the fact that Robinson prostituting the women in his care and ordering men killed if they try to speak out against it is obviously NOT GOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY, GEE. This reminds me directly of the arc in season three (which I flagged at the time) with the gay congressman, whose ‘good work as a politician’ was enough for Pembleton to try and help cover up the fact that he was also A VIOLENT DOMESTIC ABUSER. To a lesser extent, they also played this in season four when Bayliss tried to talk himself out of arresting a doctor for negligent homicide after she failed to provide proper care to a patient because she didn’t feel he deserved it - Bayliss’ insistence that the doctor should be allowed to stay in practice because ‘she saves people’s lives’ is at odds with the fact that she deliberately didn’t save this one, and as with the other examples here, the fact that someone does good work in one form does not entitle them to a free pass to do evil elsewhere. The dissonance bugs me, and I don’t know why the showrunners think that these are worthwhile dilemmas to present. Moral quandaries certainly exist, but these are not them.

ANYWAY I promised to end on praise, so here it is: Beau Felton. I’m not saying I’m glad he’s dead, because that’s a sad tragedy, but the way they handled it was excellent, and the delivery of such a twist at such an unexpected time - when we could easily have assumed, after two seasons’ absence, that Felton would never be seen and scarcely be mentioned again - was so well pitched to feel shocking, heavy, and meaningful, when it could so easily have played like a cheap trick, just one last unnecessarily dramatic turn (it was also the closest we got to a ‘Howard story’, though that’s a stretch really, she’s involved but it’s not about her). It was a tall order, to pull off the death of an old regular character off-screen without feeling contrived, but here we are. I’ve complained quite a lot about this season, but the magic ain’t gone, not yet. Not yet.

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though Keto Smooth has only been around for a year or so, it has already transformed thousands of lives across the globe. It has been the real, safe weight loss solution so many have been looking to find for years. Thousands of people can attest to Keto Smooth’s numerous benefits, which include:

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Final Thoughts

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[love-pauletta]

*The links for the quotes included in this blog are at the bottom*

COVID COVID COVID!!

The only thing that's been dominating our lives, mental health and our well being since the beginning of this year. Am I tired of it? Hell yea. Do I want it to stop spreading? You don't even have to ask twice and I'm sure the feeling is mutual with you too. Just think about it, how many doors did it close for you? I know right. Yea I agree with you, It should definitely pack its bags and leave!!! But here's a trick question, was it a trick or a treat?

The pandemic has made a lot of modifications in our lives especially our daily routines, our behavior and how we normally conduct certain tasks/the way we do things. It took a hard knock having to adapt to the changes and having to create a new routine that is suitable for our environment as well as our well being. Besides these changes mentioned, which mostly apply in our personal lives, even in the health sectors/hospitals there had to be strict regulations to maintain the work environment and there was zero access to them which made it hard for people to continue with their treatment especially in OT because it required one on one sessions as well as group sessions which are impossible to run because of "social distancing"

"For our residential clients, Functional Life Skills (FLS) staff now provide treatment in group homes that would normally have been provided at our day program/outpatient facility.Staff follow a daily health and safety protocol, including having their temperature checked at the beginning of their shift, monitoring the temperature and O2 saturation level of all clients, and following a strict routine of cleaning equipment and high-touch surfaces"

Having to go through these changes and getting to experience them have been nerve wrecking and it brought up a lot of emotions because I felt like there was little hope for the future, well my future to be quite specific. Not given the chance to go to school, attend lectures and go to prac felt like a punishment, the Virus literally became a threat that I had little power over in fact zero power.

Since we've been back to campus and having pracs my mood has been a little elevated even though it is still quite horrifying but feeling like things are slightly getting back on track bring a little hope. Especially since I was in the group Work block, it was quite difficult choosing appropriate activities which didn't go against the restrictions and maintaining social distancing. At first it didn't feel like it was going to be a good learning experience since we didn't have actual clients to work with however working with my peers was very helpful and improved my insight in a lot of things. I learnt a lot from them especially my partner and a lot of handling techniques as well as communication skills. And to be quite honest, thou the virus brought a lot of negativity, losses and changes, it did come with a lot of benefits, I believe it was a learning experience.

"Being positive isn't pretending that everything is good - it's seeing the good in everything"

Multiple people established a lot of skills/creative skills which they had little insight on and they weren't aware that they had them and some of us we had to learn and adapt in order to survive and complete all we had planned for the year. For example, one of the skills which I obtained through this pandemic were computer based skills through the use of Zoom meetings to attend lectures and a lot of alternatives were introduced to maintain and achieve treatment goals especially in OT like Telehealth.

"As for our outpatient clients, they too receive services via telehealth delivery, both for cognitive and licensed therapies, whether on personal devices or on company-supplied iPads. Family members are typically available to assist with schedule reminders and technology issues."

The point that I'm trying to make out of this is we might have viewed covid 19 as a threat most of the time but maybe it is time we view it in a different perspective and approach it with smart strategies in order to survive because there's a lways a light at the end of the tunnel. It was more of a trick than a treat. Just a matter of adapting to change.

"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending "

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https://www.biausa.org/public-affairs/media/how-service-delivery-has-changed-the-effect-of-covid-19-on-occupational-therapy

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Can You FLOAT Your Way To Better Sleep?

The blog post Can You FLOAT Your Way To Better Sleep? is available on MWAV Blog

I had a patient in my office recently for an appointment, and she couldn’t wait to tell me about an experience she’d had. “I did my first float,” she said, her expression both excited and serene. She described the experience as nothing less than transformative. She’d been a little nervous at first, she said, but she found it surprisingly easy to relax, once she was floating in the pool of warm water, wrapped in silence and darkness. “It was the most amazing thing,” she confided. “I thought maybe I’d fallen asleep, but I was awake the whole time. My mind just went into a whole different place, somewhere so deeply peaceful. For once, I had no sense of time.” She went on to tell me she’d been trying to meditate for years, and floating brought her to what she felt was a meditative mindset she’d never been able to experience before. The calm and relaxation she felt after her float session stayed with her for some time. She had already booked her next appointment.

Float therapy has been around for decades, since the 1950s when scientists developed early flotation tanks. Since then, scientific inquiry into the effects and possible benefits of float therapy continued for many years without much notice from the broader scientific community or the public at large. But in recent years, interest in floating has really taken off. There’s been an uptick in scientific interest in and study of floating. And the general public is increasingly interested in the potential benefits of floating for mental and physical health. One way to tell? Float centers are popping up all across the country, places where people can schedule a float session like you’d book an appointment for a therapeutic massage.

With float therapy experiencing something of a breakthrough—and inspired by the conversation with my patient–now seems like the perfect time to take a look at floating, and how it may help improve sleep. I’ve been working as a scientific adviser to a company, True REST, that is working to make float therapy widely accessible. What I’ve learned about the potential benefits of floating for sleep—and the characteristics and benefits it shares with meditation, one of the most deeply sleep- and health-promoting practices—are really interesting and promising.

Ready to dive in?

What is floatation therapy?

Simply put, float therapy uses the act of floating in water, in a carefully controlled environment, to induce a deep state of relaxation. By significantly reducing the external presence of sensory information—that’s everything from sight, sound, and smell to touch, temperature, taste, sense of body position, and even sense of gravity—float therapy quiets activity in the central nervous system, and relaxes the body and mind.

In technical terms, floatation therapy is a form of what’s known as Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy, or REST. Floating dramatically limits the sources of external sensory stimulation for the mind and body to process. That spurs the brain and body to shift its attention away from outside stimuli, and opens up awareness of our internal states, mental and physical. Scientists have over years of study identified a broad range of therapeutic benefits of REST in treating mental and physical health problems, including anxiety disordersand post-traumatic stress disorder, ADHD, substance use disorder, insomniaand fibromyalgia.

The mental and physical state that can be achieved by floating is often compared, by both scientists and practitioners, to that of meditation. And as you’ll soon see, research investigating float therapy suggests it may deliver similar states of deep relaxation as those achieved by highly experienced meditation practitioners.

What are the health benefits?Scientific study suggests float therapy may be effective in relieving stress, reducing pain, alleviating anxiety and depression, enhancing cognitive performance creativity, boosting immune function—and yes, helping sleep. Like meditation, float therapy is a non-pharmacological intervention. (I wrote just recently about the latest FDA warnings about prescription sleep medication. While these medications can be useful in some cases, they’re not broadly best suited for widespread and long-term use. Natural, non-chemical therapies for sleep are critical agents in helping those of us with sleep problems rest better.)

How does floating work?

People who use floating speak of the sense of profound calm, focus and well being that accompanies the practice. How does floating in a pool of water lead people to a state of deep rest and refocusing?

The conditions for floating are created with specifically designed enclosures—sometimes tanks, pods, chambers, or pools. (Different float centers offer different types of structures for floating.) The float chamber is filled with water that’s heavily infused with Epsom salts. This intensely concentrated salt water serves a couple of important purposes. Highly concentrated salt water creates tremendous buoyancy, allowing the body to float, fully supported by the surrounding water, in conditions that mimic a near zero-gravity state. The heavily salt-infused water also contains high concentrations of magnesium. I’ll talk more about the potential benefits of magnesium in a moment.

Within the float chamber, the temperature of the air and water closely matches body temperature. Chambers are also light-proof and sound-proof. You lie on your back—floating without effort, thanks to that salty water. Float sessions typically last between 45-90 minutes.

As you might have gathered from my patient’s enthusiastic story of her experience, the experience of flotation can be, for many people, a profound one. Practitioners speak about the unprecedented relaxation and letting go physically that can occur. They also highlight the emotional and psychological effects, of leaving a float session feeling mentally renewed and refreshed, with a deep sense of serenity and peace. What’s transpiring in the brain and body to create such a sense of physical and mental transformation? Scientific research offers us some important clues.

How floating affects the body and mind

Though we’re still relatively early in scientific exploration and documentation of floating and its therapeutic benefits, there is a growing body of research that suggests the practice of float therapy creates a distinct series of physiological and psychological changes in the brain and body—changes that can benefit sleep, health, and daily performance. Here, I’ll highlight several those effects on the body. Keep in mind that we’ve still got a lot to learn about what floating does, and there may be more to come.

Floating can lower cortisol.Several studies have measured significant reductionsto cortisolin people after they’ve engaged in floating. Cortisol is a hormone with broad-reaching effects in the body. Cortisol is involved in regulating metabolism, and plays an important role in immune system functioning, in part by controlling inflammation. Maintaining healthy cortisol levels is key to protecting mental and physical health. Too often, cortisol levels run chronically high, thanks in large part to stress and poor sleep.

Cortisol is intricately connected to both stress and sleep. A stimulating, alerting hormone, cortisol—like other hormones—runs on a 24-hour bio clock in the body. Cortisol levels rise to their peak first thing in the morning, helping deliver us the alertness and energy we need to wake and start being active. While fluctuating throughout the day, cortisol gradually declines as evening approaches, reaching its lowest levels in the middle of the night. Elevated cortisol levels can interfere with sleep, particularly when cortisol remains high in the evenings. In turn, a lack of sleep can aggravate cortisol levels outside of a healthy range.

What else contributes to high cortisol? The hormone’s role in stress is one very powerful way cortisol levels can become chronically elevated. Cortisol is probably best-known as a stress hormone. That’s because it is a major player in the body’s fight or flight response. When faced with a stressor of any sort, our bodies respond with a sharp increase in cortisol. When stress is routine, cortisol remains high. That can interfere with our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. Think about the times you’ve been under stress, and how tough it can be to drift off. Even after you do, you’re likely to wake during the night. That is cortisol at work. High cortisol levelstypically go hand in hand with diminished levels of melatonin, a hormone that is essential for paving our way to sleep each night.

Too much cortisol doesn’t only contribute to sleep problems. It creates other health issues, including poorly regulated blood sugar, suppression of the immune system, weight gain, microbiome imbalance and gastrointestinal issues including irritable bowel syndrome, and chronic anxiety.

Floating can improve other markers of stress. Several studies show that exposure to floatation therapy can lead to reductions in other key physiological and psychological signs of stress and anxiety. Float therapy has been shown to lower blood pressure, reduce muscle pain and tension, improve fatigue and lower anxiety levels, while increasing positive mood, energy, and relaxation. For example, a 2018 study conducted by one of today’s leading scientific investigators of flotation therapy, Dr. Justin Feinstein, found significant reductions to blood pressure(an average of more than a 12-point drop in diastolic pressure) occurred in a group of participants during floating. At the same time, study participants experienced significant relief from muscle tension and mental anxiety. Dr. Feinstein, a neuropsychologist who is an assistant professor at Oklahoma’s University of Tulsa and a principal investigator at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, is deeply involved in studying the therapeutic potential of floatation, specifically its value in treating mental health conditions including anxiety, addiction, eating disorders and other psychological conditions. These marked relaxation changes that are associated with floating that Dr. Feinstein and other scientists have measured are promising preliminary indicators of the potential float therapy has as a tool for treating mood disorders and also sleep disorders.

Floating can shift brain consciousness to a more relaxed (and creative) state.Several studies demonstrate how floatation therapy can move people into different, more relaxed states of consciousness, including the kind of deep relaxation where time perception is alteredand creativity is enhanced. Remember my patient who said she lost track of time while floating? That experience has been documented in scientific study. Recent analysis shows that the mind’s consciousness during floatingmay take on characteristics of stages 1 and 2 sleep. And other studies have shown that floating increases the presence of low frequency delta and theta brain waves, which are also present during sleep.

A shift into the state of deep relaxation where that allows time to slip away suggests some distinct changes to brain wave activity are happening during floating, likely similar to what happens in the brain during meditation. Studies have shown meditation alters brain activity, decreasing high-frequency beta waves and increasing low-frequency theta wave activity in different parts of the brain. Theta brain waves occur when we’re experiencing deep levels of relaxation, and also during the lighter stages of sleep. A waking brain that’s populated with theta waves is likely to be in a state of flow—that wandering, daydreaming, internally focused state of consciousness that is linked to creativity and to mental rejuvenation. (Beta waves, on the other hand, reflect a brain that is externally focused and task driven, responding to external stimuli, planning and meeting goals.)

Floating may provide benefits from magnesium.Magnesium is an essential macro-mineral we need in large quantities. It’s a mineral that keeps our muscles and nerves working well, that regulates mood and stabilizes sleep-wake cycles, that facilitates all sorts of enzyme-related biochemical reactions that keep our bodies functioning as they should. Our bodies don’t produce magnesium—we must take it in from outside sources. Magnesium deficiency is common; estimates suggest that most men and women in the United States aren’t getting enough magnesium. A lack of magnesium can:

interfere with energy production and the widespread work of the body’s enzymes

compromise muscle and nerve function and make us prone to physical pain

increase stress and anxiety

disrupt our ability to sleep

I’ve written in depth about how magnesium benefits sleep, and why it’s so important to maintain healthy magnesium levels for overall mental and physical health. When we’re lacking in magnesium (as many of us are), we’re likely to be more fatigued, more stressed, more tired and low in energy. There is ongoing scientific question and debate about how effectively magnesium can be absorbed into the body through the skin. Though it’s not yet clear whether floating can deliver magnesium as a nutrient to the body, magnesium found in float water is likely to contribute to the deep physical relaxation of the experience.

 Next, we’ll take a closer look at what the latest science says about float therapy’s benefits for sleep and sleep-related conditions, from insomnia and anxiety disorders to chronic pain. I’ll also share some tips for getting the most out of floating, for sleep, mood, and health.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD, DABSM

The Sleep Doctor

www.thesleepdoctor.com

  The post Can You FLOAT Your Way To Better Sleep? appeared first on Your Guide to Better Sleep.

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Definitive Guide to Carb Timing and Carb Cycling

The Primal Blueprint is generally considered a low-carb way of eating, especially in contrast to the Standard American Diet and the like. We’re not anti-carb. My Big-Ass Salad is a huge bowl of carbs from vegetables, after all. We’re selective about the sources of our carbs and generally mindful about how many we take in.

Given that, readers always want to know the “right” way to incorporate carbs. Which carb sources? How many? When? How often?

The Primal Blueprint Food Pyramid and Carb Curve provide answers to the first two questions. The latter two… well, those are more complicated.

I’ve written about these topics many times, but the questions keep on coming. Today I’m going to try to condense the main points into one post. I’ll touch on some issues you’ve raised in the comments of recent posts, too.

In truth, I keep getting questions because there are so few definitive answers about the optimal way to incorporate carbs in your diet. Underlying hormonal and metabolic health, activity level, and lifestyle variables to make it impossible to make across-the-board recommendations. Few studies address these issues, and those that do always use standard high-carb diets in their manipulations.

The best I can do is explain the logic behind different strategies and encourage you to experiment. As with so many things, it might take time to discover which strategies work best for you.

Carb Timing, Carb Cycling, and Carb Refeeds, Oh My!

Let’s get some terminology out of the way.

Carb timing refers to when you eat your carbs. Usually this means when during the day, morning versus night, but it can also mean relative to exercise or other activities.

The term carb cycling encompasses various strategies in which you rotate periods of higher- and lower-carb eating. A common carb cycling schedule is eating low-carb for five or six days, then higher-carb for a day or two. Some people eat low-carb for a period of, say, six to eight weeks, then higher-carb for a week or two. Women may also vary their carb intake around their menstrual cycles.

Carb refeeds can be synonymous with carb cycling—the higher-carb days are called “refeed” or “carb-up” days. Carb refeeds can also be less systematic than carb cycling. For example, you might throw in a couple high-carb days because your weight loss has plateaued, or you’re doing some particularly strenuous exercise.

It should go without saying that when I say “carbs,” I mean nutrient-dense, whole-food sources of carbohydrate. I’m talking about sweet potatoes and other root vegetables, in-season fruit, nuts, high-fat dairy, perhaps wild rice and occasional legumes if they work for you. There’s obviously no situation in which I’d tell you to throw back a couple donuts with a soda chaser and call it a refeed.

Why Should You Carb Cycle or Refeed?

The main reason to periodically increase your carbs is to boost your leptin levels. Leptin is an important metabolic hormone that is secreted by adipose cells. Leptin also rises after eating, especially carbohydrates but also protein and maybe fat to a lesser degree.

Leptin’s main job is to signal how much energy is available. When leptin levels fall, the brain understands that we are low on energy. This leads to hunger and energy conservation. Chronically low leptin can interfere with fertility, thyroid and adrenal function, skeletal integrity, and cardiovascular health.

Carb refeeds can “reset” leptin levels. Among other benefits, these bursts of leptin improve insulin sensitivity and may help with weight loss. Sustained caloric deficits lead to decreased metabolic rate—part of the energy conservation adaptation. Refeeds will boost metabolic rate, especially if you also eat more calories along with carbs, and reduce hunger. Plus, occasionally eating higher-carb meals offers a welcome break from constant restriction.

Some signs you might benefit carb cycling/refeeds are:

Excessive hunger

Irregular menstrual cycles

Mood disturbances or depression

Low body fat

Sleep disturbances

Weight-loss plateau

Better adherence to dietary goals with occasional “breaks”

In each of these cases, adding carbs is only one of several dietary strategies you might try. Also consider whether you are eating enough calories, and protein, to meet your needs, and whether you are minding your Ps and Qs when it comes to sleep practices and stress reduction.

People who might not need carb refeeds:

Carry significant body fat or are insulin resistant

Find it easier to adhere to dietary goals when they abstain from higher-carb foods/meals

Use low-carb eating regimens therapeutically (e.g., under medical guidance for epilepsy, cognitive decline, or type 1 diabetes)

This should be obvious, but you also don’t need refeeds if you’re not restricting carbohydrates. What does that mean, though? Anyone who is eating a ketogenic diet is clearly restricting carbs. Beyond that, there is a lot of gray area. An extreme endurance athlete eating 150 or even 200 grams of carb per day could be considered low-carb, and hence they might benefit from cycling in more carbs occasionally. Your best bet is to rely on subjective markers of how you feel.

How to Incorporate Carb Cycling or Refeeds

This depends on your goal. If you’re feeling good without carb refeeds, you probably don’t need them. In that case, you might throw in high-carb meals intuitively or when a special occasion offers the opportunity.

Otherwise, you can be more systematic about it. I’d start small and increase as needed. One meal every other week could suffice. You might find you do better with one high-carb day per week, or one meal every three or four days. It’s not uncommon for women to feel better with a slightly higher carb intake than men, but it’s still highly individual.

For weight-loss stalls, consider eating at maintenance calories for a week or two along with including more carbs than normal. This signals to your body that you are no longer in an energy shortage, so it is safe to reverse some of those energy conserving adaptations.

Premenopausal women can try increasing carbs four to five days post-ovulation (around days 19 and 20 of their cycle) and on the first day or two of their period. Women’s bodies are especially attuned to energy shortages, so these periodic boosts in leptin, timed to coincide with greater demand, can be beneficial.

There are no hard rules about how much to increase your carbs. A good place to start is doubling your normal carb intake and adjusting from there. I’d also recommend dialing back your fat intake with higher-carb meals. Triglycerides prevent leptin from crossing the blood-brain barrier.4 You don’t have to do zero fat, just don’t pile it on. Cooking with fat shouldn’t be a problem.

Carb Timing

I’ve said before that I think carb timing is relatively low on the hierarchy of things to care about. It’s not as important as what you’re eating or how much. I think it’s also less important than your macros—getting sufficient protein and experimenting with different levels of carb intake.

That said, if you want to experiment with carb timing, go for it. You won’t get a lot of guidance about how to do it, though, at least not from empirical research. I can’t find any studies that systematically vary carb intake, morning versus evening, among people eating anything like a Primal or paleo diet.

The good news, though, is that there isn’t an obviously wrong way to do this. Carb timing is unlikely to be the factor that makes or breaks your health, fitness, or longevity goals. Still, it might move the needle, so let’s get into it.

Rationales for Eating Carbs in the Morning

Insulin Sensitivity is Higher in the Morning

In my estimation, the best argument in favor of eating most of your carbs in the morning is that that’s when you’re most insulin sensitive. It makes sense to eat your carbs at the time your body is best equipped to handle them.

Eating a greater proportion of your carbs in the morning also seems to promote insulin sensitivity.5 This effect might be especially pronounced in people who have poor glucose control to start with. In one small study, carb timing didn’t matter for participants who were metabolically healthy. For those with impaired glucose tolerance, eating carbs at night led to unfavorable changes on several makers of glucose tolerance compared to eating their carbs in the morning.6

For what it’s worth, this is also why proponents of chrononutrition advocate for eating more of your total calories in the morning. Doing so, they argue, takes advantage of the natural peak in insulin sensitivity and acts as a zeitgeber to entrain your circadian rhythm.

And yes, I usually skip breakfast myself. I also eat a fairly low-carb, and therefore low-insulin-producing, diet. I’m metabolically healthy. My sleep is top notch. I’m not worried about my glucose tolerance nor my circadian rhythm. Both are in tiptop shape. For me, skipping breakfast feels natural, and I like extending my overnight fast. Since it seems to have no ill effects, I’m sticking with that schedule for now, but I’m open to change.

To “Sleep Low” for Fitness Gains

This one is really about avoiding carbs in the evening more than eating them in the morning per se. Here’s how it works: In the afternoon or evening, do a high-intensity workout to deplete glycogen stores. Do not eat carbohydrates after. In the morning, do a low-intensity session, such as a light jog, then eat breakfast with a balance of carbs, fat, and protein.

The purpose of sleeping low is to force your body to upregulate fat metabolism. Researchers have studied this protocol among elite male triathletes. They compared men who ate carbohydrates spread across three meals to men who ate all their carbs at breakfast and lunch and then “slept low.” Both groups ate the same total amount of carbs and did the same workouts.

In one report, after three weeks of this training, the group that slept low scored significantly better on a test of muscular efficiency. They also performed better on a surpamaximal test—basically pedal until you (almost) puke—and a 10k run in simulated race conditions.7 The sleep low group also lost fat but not lean mass. Using the same protocol, researchers showed that after only a week of sleeping low, the men improved their performance on a 20k cycling time trial, whereas the control group showed no improvement.8

Reasons to Eat Most of Your Carbs in the Evening

Carbs Affect Sleep

Carbohydrates increase tryptophan production. Tryptophan is a precursor of serotonin, which in turn converts to melatonin. Still with me?

Thus, the theory goes, eating carbs at night will boost melatonin production and, hence, promote sleep. It makes sense, and you can certainly try it, but there’s no concrete evidence it actually works. According to the one tiny study that has examined this effect, your best bet is to eat some high-glycemic carbs four hours before bedtime.9 I’d say if you want to try this, you probably don’t need a lot of carbs—maybe half a small sweet potato with dinner, a piece of fruit, or a tablespoon of honey in a mug of herbal tea.

Cortisol Levels Respond to Carb Intake

Here’s the argument: Cortisol naturally rises in the morning as part of the sleep-wake cycle. One of cortisol’s effects is to mobilize stored energy from fat. Insulin opposes the action of cortisol and inhibits the release of fat from adipose tissue. If you eat carbs in the morning, you increase insulin. Therefore, you counteract the desirable high cortisol levels that characterize a healthy circadian rhythm. You also interfere with fat burning.

It makes sense, but the data doesn’t clearly support it. Studies in healthy men10 and college students who were or were not stressed before eating11 fail to show a marked decrease in cortisol levels following carbohydrate consumption. In fact, when the men in that first study consumed carbs, protein, and fat in isolation, cortisol levels were highest in the carb-only condition. Likewise, when researchers in another study fed women high-protein or high-carb meals, the high-carb meals resulted in higher, not lower, cortisol levels among women with abdominal obesity (the kind linked to metabolic syndrome), but not peripheral obesity.12

What does this mean? It is true that if you’re hoping to extend an overnight fast and promote fat burning, then eating a high-carb breakfast that raises insulin will be counter to that goal. If you’re specifically worried that it will tank your cortisol, though, it may not be the case.

However, there is also tremendous variability in individuals’ cortisol responses. Certain people may indeed do better avoiding carbs in the morning. Some practitioners advise individuals with adrenal issues and cortisol dysregulation to eat most of their carbs in the evening instead of the morning.

For Weight Loss?

A lot of people tout this benefit, but there is no real evidence to back it up. There are a couple poorly done studies, and one that showed that participants who ate carbs at dinner instead of lunch lost more weight than those who did the opposite. However, that was because they lost lean tissue in addition to fat.13

There may be a benefit to eating more of your total calories in the morning, but that’s not about carbs per se.

Morning Carbs May Cause Cravings

This is anecdotal, but I’ve had many people tell me that if they start their day with a high-carb breakfast, even complex carbs, they feel hungrier and more snacky all day. If this is you, by all means listen to your body and avoid carbs in the morning.

Reasons to Consume Carbs around Exercise

There are a couple good reasons to target your carbs around exercise. One is their ergogenic effect—that is, their ability to enhance performance. Now, you know I’m a staunch advocate for becoming a fat-burning beast. I think it should be every athlete’s goal to burn as much fat as possible at all levels of intensity. Heck, I even have a book, Primal Endurance, that is all about helping endurance athletes minimize their reliance on carbs.

Still, there’s no denying that carbs can help you tap into top-end speed and power. I’ve always made room for the strategic use of carbs in training, and especially in racing. Train low, race high is a viable strategy for athletes at all levels. For athletes who are engaged in prolonged high-intensity efforts (not my preference), carbs may well be necessary to deliver their desired performance. Hardcore CrossFitters, for example, usually do better when they use carbs around exercise.

Taking in some carbs before or during intense exercise isn’t the same as eating 200 grams of carbs and sitting on the couch. During exercise, those carbs are utilized quickly for energy. Exercise actually increases the ability of cells to take up glucose from the bloodstream, thanks to a glucose transporter in muscle cells called GLUT4 that doesn’t rely on insulin.14

After exercise, when glycogen stores have been depleted, muscle cells become more insulin sensitive.15 The carbs you eat then will preferentially go to topping off glycogen.16 This only applies if you’ve actually depleted your muscle glycogen, though. A nice long walk, 30-minute bike ride at an aerobic heart rate, or microworkout won’t do it.

What If You’re Trying to Build Muscle?

As a pre-workout, consuming a small amount of carbohydrate, 25 to 30 grams, may be beneficial. You don’t need to worry about having full glycogen tanks, though.17 And contrary to what that swole dude at the gym might have told you, you don’t need to throw down post-workout carbs to build lean muscle. You should worry more about getting adequate protein in your diet than about how many carbs you’re eating.18

Should You Eat Carbs Separately from Fat?

This is another one of those beliefs that makes sense on paper but doesn’t quite bear out in practice. The idea here is that when you eat carbs and fat together, the carbs raise insulin, which unlocks fat cells, which allows the fat you just ate to be easily shoved inside. In other words, carbs + fat = weight gain.

It can work like that, but it doesn’t have to. This is a much bigger concern if you are eating an excess of calories. If you’re consuming more energy than your body actually needs, and you’re potentiating the fat storage process, then yeah, you’ll end up storing body fat.

If you’re not consuming more energy than you need, you don’t need to worry. For example, in one study, two groups of patients ate a hypocaloric diet where carbs and fat were eaten either separately or together for six weeks. Both groups lost similar amounts of body fat and showed comparable reductions in plasma glucose and triglycerides. 19

On the other hand, proponents of eating carbs and fat together will tell you that eating fat alongside carbs is desirable because fat blunts the glycemic response. However, the empirical data here are inconsistent and, frankly, confusing. I’m not hanging my hat on this effect.

What’s clearly true is that carbs + fat = delicious. It’s easier to overeat the combo of the two than to overeat either one by itself. In that sense, you might want to watch your consumption of mixed meals if you’re trying to lose weight. At least be mindful of the total caloric load.

Conclusions

When it comes to both carb cycling and carb timing, there is no one-size-fits-most strategy. As with most things we talk about here, you’re going to have to experiment to see what works for you. Hopefully this post has given you some ideas. To summarize the main points:

I think there is fairly decent evidence that carb cycling and/or carb refeeds may benefit you if you typically eat a low-carb diet, especially if it’s also calorie (energy) restricted. You don’t have to, though, especially if you’re feeling good.

Personally, I’m a bigger fan of listening to my body and allowing my carb intake to vary according to my circumstances and intuition rather than adhering to a particular schedule. Your mileage may vary. Premenopausal women in particular may do well to consider being more intentional about it. If you’re going to try incorporating carb cycling, the exact strategy you should try depends on what you hope to accomplish.

As for carb timing, morning versus night, I’m not convinced that it matters a whole lot for most people. If you have chronically low cortisol, or your daily cortisol rhythm is out of alignment, you might do well to consume most of your carbs later in the day. If you’re struggling with insulin resistance, try eating breakfast and including some carbs. For sleep issues, experiment with adding some carbs in the few hours before bedtime.

If you’re using carb cycling or carb timing strategies in the service of a longer term goal—losing weight, sleeping better, improving glucose tolerance—pick a strategy and stick to it for at least a few weeks if not months unless it’s clearly not working for you. If your first experiment doesn’t work, you can always try tweaking the timing, types, and/or amount of carbs you’re eating. Be patient.

For some people, carb cycling or carb timing turns out to be the key to resolving a persistent health issue. For others, they have more of a fine-tuning effect. Still for others, they make no obvious difference.

Are they worth trying? Absolutely, if you want. I’m definitely sold on targeting your carbs around exercise; that’s a clear yes in my book. Even then, though, I like to mix up my fueling to challenge my body. Sometimes I eat right after a workout, sometimes I wait. Sometimes I go out fasted, other times I eat beforehand. That’s how I roll.

How do you roll? Are you gung-ho about a particular carb strategy? Has changing up the timing of your carb intake led to any profound shifts in your health? If yes, I want to hear about it in the comments.

RELATED MDA POSTS

Carb Refeeding and Weight Loss Does Carb Cycling Work? It Depends. Dear Mark: Should I Increase Carb Intake for Weight Loss? Carb Refeeds for Women: Do They Help With Fat Loss?

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References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1540458/

http://health.heraldtribune.com/2012/06/06/moderate-exercise-may-be-better-for-you-than-vigorous-workouts/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3823511/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15111494/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7071301/

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5188410/

https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/85/2/426/4649589

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20849868/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3033415/

https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/87/8/3984/2847416

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-013-0497-7

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9435517/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6019055/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6019055/

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2928613/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10805507/

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Definitive Guide to Carb Timing and Carb Cycling

The Primal Blueprint is generally considered a low-carb way of eating, especially in contrast to the Standard American Diet and the like. We’re not anti-carb. My Big-Ass Salad is a huge bowl of carbs from vegetables, after all. We’re selective about the sources of our carbs and generally mindful about how many we take in.

Given that, readers always want to know the “right” way to incorporate carbs. Which carb sources? How many? When? How often?

The Primal Blueprint Food Pyramid and Carb Curve provide answers to the first two questions. The latter two… well, those are more complicated.

I’ve written about these topics many times, but the questions keep on coming. Today I’m going to try to condense the main points into one post. I’ll touch on some issues you’ve raised in the comments of recent posts, too.

In truth, I keep getting questions because there are so few definitive answers about the optimal way to incorporate carbs in your diet. Underlying hormonal and metabolic health, activity level, and lifestyle variables to make it impossible to make across-the-board recommendations. Few studies address these issues, and those that do always use standard high-carb diets in their manipulations.

The best I can do is explain the logic behind different strategies and encourage you to experiment. As with so many things, it might take time to discover which strategies work best for you.

Carb Timing, Carb Cycling, and Carb Refeeds, Oh My!

Let’s get some terminology out of the way.

Carb timing refers to when you eat your carbs. Usually this means when during the day, morning versus night, but it can also mean relative to exercise or other activities.

The term carb cycling encompasses various strategies in which you rotate periods of higher- and lower-carb eating. A common carb cycling schedule is eating low-carb for five or six days, then higher-carb for a day or two. Some people eat low-carb for a period of, say, six to eight weeks, then higher-carb for a week or two. Women may also vary their carb intake around their menstrual cycles.

Carb refeeds can be synonymous with carb cycling—the higher-carb days are called “refeed” or “carb-up” days. Carb refeeds can also be less systematic than carb cycling. For example, you might throw in a couple high-carb days because your weight loss has plateaued, or you’re doing some particularly strenuous exercise.

It should go without saying that when I say “carbs,” I mean nutrient-dense, whole-food sources of carbohydrate. I’m talking about sweet potatoes and other root vegetables, in-season fruit, nuts, high-fat dairy, perhaps wild rice and occasional legumes if they work for you. There’s obviously no situation in which I’d tell you to throw back a couple donuts with a soda chaser and call it a refeed.

Why Should You Carb Cycle or Refeed?

The main reason to periodically increase your carbs is to boost your leptin levels. Leptin is an important metabolic hormone that is secreted by adipose cells. Leptin also rises after eating, especially carbohydrates but also protein and maybe fat to a lesser degree.

Leptin’s main job is to signal how much energy is available. When leptin levels fall, the brain understands that we are low on energy. This leads to hunger and energy conservation. Chronically low leptin can interfere with fertility, thyroid and adrenal function, skeletal integrity, and cardiovascular health.

Carb refeeds can “reset” leptin levels. Among other benefits, these bursts of leptin improve insulin sensitivity and may help with weight loss. Sustained caloric deficits lead to decreased metabolic rate—part of the energy conservation adaptation. Refeeds will boost metabolic rate, especially if you also eat more calories along with carbs, and reduce hunger. Plus, occasionally eating higher-carb meals offers a welcome break from constant restriction.

Some signs you might benefit carb cycling/refeeds are:

Excessive hunger

Irregular menstrual cycles

Mood disturbances or depression

Low body fat

Sleep disturbances

Weight-loss plateau

Better adherence to dietary goals with occasional “breaks”

In each of these cases, adding carbs is only one of several dietary strategies you might try. Also consider whether you are eating enough calories, and protein, to meet your needs, and whether you are minding your Ps and Qs when it comes to sleep practices and stress reduction.

People who might not need carb refeeds:

Carry significant body fat or are insulin resistant

Find it easier to adhere to dietary goals when they abstain from higher-carb foods/meals

Use low-carb eating regimens therapeutically (e.g., under medical guidance for epilepsy, cognitive decline, or type 1 diabetes)

This should be obvious, but you also don’t need refeeds if you’re not restricting carbohydrates. What does that mean, though? Anyone who is eating a ketogenic diet is clearly restricting carbs. Beyond that, there is a lot of gray area. An extreme endurance athlete eating 150 or even 200 grams of carb per day could be considered low-carb, and hence they might benefit from cycling in more carbs occasionally. Your best bet is to rely on subjective markers of how you feel.

How to Incorporate Carb Cycling or Refeeds

This depends on your goal. If you’re feeling good without carb refeeds, you probably don’t need them. In that case, you might throw in high-carb meals intuitively or when a special occasion offers the opportunity.

Otherwise, you can be more systematic about it. I’d start small and increase as needed. One meal every other week could suffice. You might find you do better with one high-carb day per week, or one meal every three or four days. It’s not uncommon for women to feel better with a slightly higher carb intake than men, but it’s still highly individual.

For weight-loss stalls, consider eating at maintenance calories for a week or two along with including more carbs than normal. This signals to your body that you are no longer in an energy shortage, so it is safe to reverse some of those energy conserving adaptations.

Premenopausal women can try increasing carbs four to five days post-ovulation (around days 19 and 20 of their cycle) and on the first day or two of their period. Women’s bodies are especially attuned to energy shortages, so these periodic boosts in leptin, timed to coincide with greater demand, can be beneficial.

There are no hard rules about how much to increase your carbs. A good place to start is doubling your normal carb intake and adjusting from there. I’d also recommend dialing back your fat intake with higher-carb meals. Triglycerides prevent leptin from crossing the blood-brain barrier.1 You don’t have to do zero fat, just don’t pile it on. Cooking with fat shouldn’t be a problem.

Carb Timing

I’ve said before that I think carb timing is relatively low on the hierarchy of things to care about. It’s not as important as what you’re eating or how much. I think it’s also less important than your macros—getting sufficient protein and experimenting with different levels of carb intake.

That said, if you want to experiment with carb timing, go for it. You won’t get a lot of guidance about how to do it, though, at least not from empirical research. I can’t find any studies that systematically vary carb intake, morning versus evening, among people eating anything like a Primal or paleo diet.

The good news, though, is that there isn’t an obviously wrong way to do this. Carb timing is unlikely to be the factor that makes or breaks your health, fitness, or longevity goals. Still, it might move the needle, so let’s get into it.

Rationales for Eating Carbs in the Morning

Insulin Sensitivity is Higher in the Morning

In my estimation, the best argument in favor of eating most of your carbs in the morning is that that’s when you’re most insulin sensitive. It makes sense to eat your carbs at the time your body is best equipped to handle them.

Eating a greater proportion of your carbs in the morning also seems to promote insulin sensitivity.2 This effect might be especially pronounced in people who have poor glucose control to start with. In one small study, carb timing didn’t matter for participants who were metabolically healthy. For those with impaired glucose tolerance, eating carbs at night led to unfavorable changes on several makers of glucose tolerance compared to eating their carbs in the morning.3

For what it’s worth, this is also why proponents of chrononutrition advocate for eating more of your total calories in the morning. Doing so, they argue, takes advantage of the natural peak in insulin sensitivity and acts as a zeitgeber to entrain your circadian rhythm.

And yes, I usually skip breakfast myself. I also eat a fairly low-carb, and therefore low-insulin-producing, diet. I’m metabolically healthy. My sleep is top notch. I’m not worried about my glucose tolerance nor my circadian rhythm. Both are in tiptop shape. For me, skipping breakfast feels natural, and I like extending my overnight fast. Since it seems to have no ill effects, I’m sticking with that schedule for now, but I’m open to change.

To “Sleep Low” for Fitness Gains

This one is really about avoiding carbs in the evening more than eating them in the morning per se. Here’s how it works: In the afternoon or evening, do a high-intensity workout to deplete glycogen stores. Do not eat carbohydrates after. In the morning, do a low-intensity session, such as a light jog, then eat breakfast with a balance of carbs, fat, and protein.

The purpose of sleeping low is to force your body to upregulate fat metabolism. Researchers have studied this protocol among elite male triathletes. They compared men who ate carbohydrates spread across three meals to men who ate all their carbs at breakfast and lunch and then “slept low.” Both groups ate the same total amount of carbs and did the same workouts.

In one report, after three weeks of this training, the group that slept low scored significantly better on a test of muscular efficiency. They also performed better on a surpamaximal test—basically pedal until you (almost) puke—and a 10k run in simulated race conditions.4 The sleep low group also lost fat but not lean mass. Using the same protocol, researchers showed that after only a week of sleeping low, the men improved their performance on a 20k cycling time trial, whereas the control group showed no improvement.5

Reasons to Eat Most of Your Carbs in the Evening

Carbs Affect Sleep

Carbohydrates increase tryptophan production. Tryptophan is a precursor of serotonin, which in turn converts to melatonin. Still with me?

Thus, the theory goes, eating carbs at night will boost melatonin production and, hence, promote sleep. It makes sense, and you can certainly try it, but there’s no concrete evidence it actually works. According to the one tiny study that has examined this effect, your best bet is to eat some high-glycemic carbs four hours before bedtime.6 I’d say if you want to try this, you probably don’t need a lot of carbs—maybe half a small sweet potato with dinner, a piece of fruit, or a tablespoon of honey in a mug of herbal tea.

Cortisol Levels Respond to Carb Intake

Here’s the argument: Cortisol naturally rises in the morning as part of the sleep-wake cycle. One of cortisol’s effects is to mobilize stored energy from fat. Insulin opposes the action of cortisol and inhibits the release of fat from adipose tissue. If you eat carbs in the morning, you increase insulin. Therefore, you counteract the desirable high cortisol levels that characterize a healthy circadian rhythm. You also interfere with fat burning.

It makes sense, but the data doesn’t clearly support it. Studies in healthy men7 and college students who were or were not stressed before eating8 fail to show a marked decrease in cortisol levels following carbohydrate consumption. In fact, when the men in that first study consumed carbs, protein, and fat in isolation, cortisol levels were highest in the carb-only condition. Likewise, when researchers in another study fed women high-protein or high-carb meals, the high-carb meals resulted in higher, not lower, cortisol levels among women with abdominal obesity (the kind linked to metabolic syndrome), but not peripheral obesity.9

What does this mean? It is true that if you’re hoping to extend an overnight fast and promote fat burning, then eating a high-carb breakfast that raises insulin will be counter to that goal. If you’re specifically worried that it will tank your cortisol, though, it may not be the case.

However, there is also tremendous variability in individuals’ cortisol responses. Certain people may indeed do better avoiding carbs in the morning. Some practitioners advise individuals with adrenal issues and cortisol dysregulation to eat most of their carbs in the evening instead of the morning.

For Weight Loss?

A lot of people tout this benefit, but there is no real evidence to back it up. There are a couple poorly done studies, and one that showed that participants who ate carbs at dinner instead of lunch lost more weight than those who did the opposite. However, that was because they lost lean tissue in addition to fat.10

There may be a benefit to eating more of your total calories in the morning, but that’s not about carbs per se.

Morning Carbs May Cause Cravings

This is anecdotal, but I’ve had many people tell me that if they start their day with a high-carb breakfast, even complex carbs, they feel hungrier and more snacky all day. If this is you, by all means listen to your body and avoid carbs in the morning.

Reasons to Consume Carbs around Exercise

There are a couple good reasons to target your carbs around exercise. One is their ergogenic effect—that is, their ability to enhance performance. Now, you know I’m a staunch advocate for becoming a fat-burning beast. I think it should be every athlete’s goal to burn as much fat as possible at all levels of intensity. Heck, I even have a book, Primal Endurance, that is all about helping endurance athletes minimize their reliance on carbs.

Still, there’s no denying that carbs can help you tap into top-end speed and power. I’ve always made room for the strategic use of carbs in training, and especially in racing. Train low, race high is a viable strategy for athletes at all levels. For athletes who are engaged in prolonged high-intensity efforts (not my preference), carbs may well be necessary to deliver their desired performance. Hardcore CrossFitters, for example, usually do better when they use carbs around exercise.

Taking in some carbs before or during intense exercise isn’t the same as eating 200 grams of carbs and sitting on the couch. During exercise, those carbs are utilized quickly for energy. Exercise actually increases the ability of cells to take up glucose from the bloodstream, thanks to a glucose transporter in muscle cells called GLUT4 that doesn’t rely on insulin.11

After exercise, when glycogen stores have been depleted, muscle cells become more insulin sensitive.12 The carbs you eat then will preferentially go to topping off glycogen.13 This only applies if you’ve actually depleted your muscle glycogen, though. A nice long walk, 30-minute bike ride at an aerobic heart rate, or microworkout won’t do it.

What If You’re Trying to Build Muscle?

As a pre-workout, consuming a small amount of carbohydrate, 25 to 30 grams, may be beneficial. You don’t need to worry about having full glycogen tanks, though.14 And contrary to what that swole dude at the gym might have told you, you don’t need to throw down post-workout carbs to build lean muscle. You should worry more about getting adequate protein in your diet than about how many carbs you’re eating.15

Should You Eat Carbs Separately from Fat?

This is another one of those beliefs that makes sense on paper but doesn’t quite bear out in practice. The idea here is that when you eat carbs and fat together, the carbs raise insulin, which unlocks fat cells, which allows the fat you just ate to be easily shoved inside. In other words, carbs + fat = weight gain.

It can work like that, but it doesn’t have to. This is a much bigger concern if you are eating an excess of calories. If you’re consuming more energy than your body actually needs, and you’re potentiating the fat storage process, then yeah, you’ll end up storing body fat.

If you’re not consuming more energy than you need, you don’t need to worry. For example, in one study, two groups of patients ate a hypocaloric diet where carbs and fat were eaten either separately or together for six weeks. Both groups lost similar amounts of body fat and showed comparable reductions in plasma glucose and triglycerides. 16

On the other hand, proponents of eating carbs and fat together will tell you that eating fat alongside carbs is desirable because fat blunts the glycemic response. However, the empirical data here are inconsistent and, frankly, confusing. I’m not hanging my hat on this effect.

What’s clearly true is that carbs + fat = delicious. It’s easier to overeat the combo of the two than to overeat either one by itself. In that sense, you might want to watch your consumption of mixed meals if you’re trying to lose weight. At least be mindful of the total caloric load.

Conclusions

When it comes to both carb cycling and carb timing, there is no one-size-fits-most strategy. As with most things we talk about here, you’re going to have to experiment to see what works for you. Hopefully this post has given you some ideas. To summarize the main points:

I think there is fairly decent evidence that carb cycling and/or carb refeeds may benefit you if you typically eat a low-carb diet, especially if it’s also calorie (energy) restricted. You don’t have to, though, especially if you’re feeling good.

Personally, I’m a bigger fan of listening to my body and allowing my carb intake to vary according to my circumstances and intuition rather than adhering to a particular schedule. Your mileage may vary. Premenopausal women in particular may do well to consider being more intentional about it. If you’re going to try incorporating carb cycling, the exact strategy you should try depends on what you hope to accomplish.

As for carb timing, morning versus night, I’m not convinced that it matters a whole lot for most people. If you have chronically low cortisol, or your daily cortisol rhythm is out of alignment, you might do well to consume most of your carbs later in the day. If you’re struggling with insulin resistance, try eating breakfast and including some carbs. For sleep issues, experiment with adding some carbs in the few hours before bedtime.

If you’re using carb cycling or carb timing strategies in the service of a longer term goal—losing weight, sleeping better, improving glucose tolerance—pick a strategy and stick to it for at least a few weeks if not months unless it’s clearly not working for you. If your first experiment doesn’t work, you can always try tweaking the timing, types, and/or amount of carbs you’re eating. Be patient.

For some people, carb cycling or carb timing turns out to be the key to resolving a persistent health issue. For others, they have more of a fine-tuning effect. Still for others, they make no obvious difference.

Are they worth trying? Absolutely, if you want. I’m definitely sold on targeting your carbs around exercise; that’s a clear yes in my book. Even then, though, I like to mix up my fueling to challenge my body. Sometimes I eat right after a workout, sometimes I wait. Sometimes I go out fasted, other times I eat beforehand. That’s how I roll.

How do you roll? Are you gung-ho about a particular carb strategy? Has changing up the timing of your carb intake led to any profound shifts in your health? If yes, I want to hear about it in the comments.

RELATED MDA POSTS

Carb Refeeding and Weight Loss Does Carb Cycling Work? It Depends. Dear Mark: Should I Increase Carb Intake for Weight Loss? Carb Refeeds for Women: Do They Help With Fat Loss?

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References

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15111494/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7071301/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5341154/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26741119/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5188410/

https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/85/2/426/4649589

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20849868/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3033415/

https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/87/8/3984/2847416

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-013-0497-7

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9435517/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6019055/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6019055/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6019055/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2928613/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10805507/

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How Nature Can Make You Kinder, Happier, and More Creative

We are spending more time indoors and online. But recent studies suggest that nature can help our brains and bodies to stay healthy.BY

I’ve been an avid hiker my whole life. From the time I first strapped on a backpack and headed into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, I was hooked on the experience, loving the way being in nature cleared my mind and helped me to feel more grounded and peaceful.

But, even though I’ve always believed that hiking in nature had many psychological benefits, I’ve never had much science to back me up…until now, that is. Scientists are beginning to find evidence that being in nature has a profound impact on our brains and our behavior, helping us to reduce anxiety, brooding, and stress, and increase our attention capacity, creativity, and our ability to connect with other people.

“People have been discussing their profound experiences in nature for the last several 100 years—from Thoreau to John Muir to many other writers,” says researcher David Strayer, of the University of Utah. “Now we are seeing changes in the brain and changes in the body that suggest we are physically and mentally more healthy when we are interacting with nature.”

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While he and other scientists may believe nature benefits our well-being, we live in a society where people spend more and more time indoors and online—especially children. Findings on how nature improves our brains brings added legitimacy to the call for preserving natural spaces—both urban and wild—and for spending more time in nature in order to lead healthier, happier, and more creative lives.

Here are some of the ways that science is showing how being in nature affects our brains and bodies.

Peter Morgan, Auyuittuq National Park

1. Being in nature decreases stress

It’s clear that hiking—and any physical activity—can reduce stress and anxiety. But, there’s something about being in nature that may augment those impacts.

In one recent experiment conducted in Japan, participants were assigned to walk either in a forest or in an urban center (taking walks of equal length and difficulty) while having their heart rate variability, heart rate, and blood pressure measured. The participants also filled out questionnaires about their moods, stress levels, and other psychological measures.

Results showed that those who walked in forests had significantly lower heart rates and higher heart rate variability (indicating more relaxation and less stress), and reported better moods and less anxiety, than those who walked in urban settings. The researchers concluded that there’s something about being in nature that had a beneficial effect on stress reduction, above and beyond what exercise alone might have produced.

In another study, researchers in Finland found that urban dwellers who strolled for as little as 20 minutes through an urban park or woodland reported significantly more stress relief than those who strolled in a city center.

The reasons for this effect are unclear; but scientists believe that we evolved to be more relaxed in natural spaces. In a now-classic laboratory experiment by Roger Ulrich of Texas A&M University and colleagues, participants who first viewed a stress-inducing movie, and were then exposed to color/sound videotapes depicting natural scenes, showed much quicker, more complete recovery from stress than those who’d been exposed to videos of urban settings.

These studies and others provide evidence that being in natural spaces— or even just looking out of a window onto a natural scene—somehow soothes us and relieves stress.

Mark at Lake Lamond

2. Nature makes you happier and less brooding

I’ve always found that hiking in nature makes me feel happier, and of course decreased stress may be a big part of the reason why. But, Gregory Bratman, of Stanford University, has found evidence that nature may impact our mood in other ways, too.

In one 2015 study, he and his colleagues randomly assigned 60 participants to a 50-minute walk in either a natural setting (oak woodlands) or an urban setting (along a four-lane road). Before and after the walk, the participants were assessed on their emotional state and on cognitive measures, such as how well they could perform tasks requiring short-term memory. Results showed that those who walked in nature experienced less anxiety, rumination (focused attention on negative aspects of oneself), and negative affect, as well as more positive emotions, in comparison to the urban walkers. They also improved their performance on the memory tasks.

In another study, he and his colleagues extended these findings by zeroing in on how walking in nature affects rumination—which has been associated with the onset of depression and anxiety—while also using fMRI technology to look at brain activity. Participants who took a 90-minute walk in either a natural setting or an urban setting had their brains scanned before and after their walks and were surveyed on self-reported rumination levels (as well as other psychological markers). The researchers controlled for many potential factors that might influence rumination or brain activity—for example, physical exertion levels as measured by heart rates and pulmonary functions.

Even so, participants who walked in a natural setting versus an urban setting reported decreased rumination after the walk, and they showed increased activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain whose deactivation is affiliated with depression and anxiety—a finding that suggests nature may have important impacts on mood.

Bratman believes results like these need to reach city planners and others whose policies impact our natural spaces. “Ecosystem services are being incorporated into decision making at all levels of public policy, land use planning, and urban design, and it’s very important to be sure to incorporate empirical findings from psychology into these decisions,” he says.

Courtesy of

Grand Canyon National Park

3. Nature relieves attention fatigue and increases creativity.

Today, we live with ubiquitous technology designed to constantly pull for our attention. But many scientists believe our brains were not made for this kind of information bombardment, and that it can lead to mental fatigue, overwhelm, and burnout, requiring “attention restoration” to get back to a normal, healthy state.

Strayer is one of those researchers. He believes that being in nature restores depleted attention circuits, which can then help us be more open to creativity and problem-solving.

“When you use your cell phone to talk, text, shoot photos, or whatever else you can do with your cell phone, you’re tapping the prefrontal cortex and causing reductions in cognitive resources,” he says.

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In a 2012 study, he and his colleagues showed that hikers on a four-day backpacking trip could solve significantly more puzzles requiring creativity when compared to a control group of people waiting to take the same hike—in fact, 47 percent more. Although other factors may account for his results—for example, the exercise or the camaraderie of being out together—prior studies have suggested that nature itself may play an important role. One in Psychological Science found that the impact of nature on attention restoration is what accounted for improved scores on cognitive tests for the study participants.

This phenomenon may be due to differences in brain activation when viewing natural scenes versus more built-up scenes—even for those who normally live in an urban environment. In a recent study conducted by Peter Aspinall at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, and colleagues, participants who had their brains monitored continuously using mobile electroencephalogram (EEG) while they walked through an urban green space had brain EEG readings indicating lower frustration, engagement, and arousal, and higher meditation levels while in the green area, and higher engagement levels when moving out of the green area. This lower engagement and arousal may be what allows for attention restoration, encouraging a more open, meditative mindset.

It’s this kind of brain activity—sometimes referred to as “the brain default network”—that is tied to creative thinking, says Strayer. He is currently repeating his earlier 2012 study with a new group of hikers and recording their EEG activity and salivary cortisol levels before, during, and after a three-day hike. Early analyses of EEG readings support the theory that hiking in nature seems to rest people’s attention networks and to engage their default networks.

Strayer and colleagues are also specifically looking at the effects of technology by monitoring people’s EEG readings while they walk in an arboretum, either while talking on their cell phone or not. So far, they’ve found that participants with cell phones appear to have EEG readings consistent with attention overload, and can recall only half as many details of the arboretum they just passed through, compared to those who were not on a cell phone.

Though Strayer’s findings are preliminary, they are consistent with other people’s findings on the importance of nature to attention restoration and creativity.

“If you’ve been using your brain to multitask—as most of us do most of the day—and then you set that aside and go on a walk, without all of the gadgets, you’ve let the prefrontal cortex recover,” says Strayer. “And that’s when we see these bursts in creativity, problem-solving, and feelings of well-being.”

William Garrett

4. Nature may help you to be kind and generous

Whenever I go to places like Yosemite or the Big Sur Coast of California, I seem to return to my home life ready to be more kind and generous to those around me—just ask my husband and kids! Now some new studies may shed light on why that is.

In a series of experiments published in 2014, Juyoung Lee, GGSC director Dacher Keltner, and other researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, studied the potential impact of nature on the willingness to be generous, trusting, and helpful toward others, while considering what factors might influence that relationship.

As part of their study, the researchers exposed participants to more or less subjectively beautiful nature scenes (whose beauty levels were rated independently) and then observed how participants behaved playing two economics games—the Dictator Game and the Trust Game—that measure generosity and trust, respectively. After being exposed to the more beautiful nature scenes, participants acted more generously and more trusting in the games than those who saw less beautiful scenes, and the effects appeared to be due to corresponding increases in positive emotion.

In another part of the study, the researchers asked people to fill out a survey about their emotions while sitting at a table where more or less beautiful plants were placed. Afterwards, the participants were told that the experiment was over and they could leave, but that if they wanted to they could volunteer to make paper cranes for a relief effort program in Japan. The number of cranes they made (or didn’t make) was used as a measure of their “prosociality” or willingness to help.

Results showed that the presence of more beautiful plants significantly increased the number of cranes made by participants, and that this increase was, again, mediated by positive emotion elicited by natural beauty. The researchers concluded that experiencing the beauty of nature increases positive emotion—perhaps by inspiring awe, a feeling akin to wonder, with the sense of being part of something bigger than oneself—which then leads to prosocial behaviors.

Support for this theory comes from an experiment conducted by Paul Piff of the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues, in which participants staring up a grove of very tall trees for as little as one minute experienced measurable increases in awe, and demonstrated more helpful behavior and approached moral dilemmas more ethically, than participants who spent the same amount of time looking up at a high building.

prodigy130

5. Nature makes you “feel more alive”

With all of these benefits to being out in nature, it’s probably no surprise that something about nature makes us feel more alive and vital. Being outdoors gives us energy, makes us happier, helps us to relieve the everyday stresses of our overscheduled lives, opens the door to creativity, and helps us to be kind to others.

No one knows if there is an ideal amount of nature exposure, though Strayer says that longtime backpackers suggest a minimum of three days to really unplug from our everyday lives. Nor can anyone say for sure how nature compares to other forms of stress relief or attention restoration, such as sleep or meditation. Both Strayer and Bratman say we need a lot more careful research to tease out these effects before we come to any definitive conclusions.

Still, the research does suggest there’s something about nature that keeps us psychologically healthy, and that’s good to know…especially since nature is a resource that’s free and that many of us can access by just walking outside our door. Results like these should encourage us as a society to consider more carefully how we preserve our wilderness spaces and our urban parks.

And while the research may not be conclusive, Strayer is optimistic that science will eventually catch up to what people like me have intuited all along—that there’s something about nature that renews us, allowing us to feel better, to think better, and to deepen our understanding of ourselves and others.

“You can’t have centuries of people writing about this and not have something going on,” says Strayer. “If you are constantly on a device or in front of a screen, you’re missing out on something that’s pretty spectacular: the real world.”

[wopersonal]

ON MELTDOWNS

I ended up tanslating a few of the articles I’ve written on the subject of autism into English, and I figured I might share them on here, too... ON MELTDOWNS As Wikipedia tells us: " A nuclear meltdown [...] is a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. […] It has been defined to mean the accidental melting of the core of a nuclear reactor, however, and is in common usage a reference to the core's either complete or partial collapse. A core meltdown accident occurs when the heat generated by a nuclear reactor exceeds the heat removed by the cooling systems to the point where at least one nuclear fuel element exceeds its melting point. This differs from a fuel element failure, which is not caused by high temperatures. A meltdown may be caused by a loss of coolant, loss of coolant pressure, or low coolant flow rate or be the result of a criticality excursion in which the reactor is operated at a power level that exceeds its design limits. Alternatively, an external fire may endanger the core, leading to a meltdown."

While autistic people are hardly radioactive, the term is often found in the context of autism, and with good reason.

Reading through the support groups, I often find parents telling about their children's "tantrums". The first thing I ask them always is: Are those tantrums?

Or are they meltdowns?

It's a vital distinction. They have different causes; different effects; different ways to handle them.

Meltdowns can be loud or quiet; they may come with aggression against others, or auto-aggression; there may be screaming, or dead silence and withdrawal. Sometimes, parents tell me their autistic children had never had a meltdown in their lives. I'd like to envy those children for their stress-free environment, but I'm afraid that, instead, the parents are mentally stuck in the stereotype of equating "meltdown" with screaming and hitting, never recognising the process in its other manifestations.How and when do meltdowns happen?

Meltdowns are the ultimate stress reaction. Put into the same situation and exposed to the same stimuli, an autistic and a non-autistic person will show different stress levels. Specifically, the autistic participant in this experiment will have the higher one. That's because we lack filters. We perceive everything more loudly, more brightly, more extreme. We rarely get a break where our brains can simply tune out the world around us. Quite often, non-autistic people around us often will not let us use what methods we have to secure such breaks sufficiently. And even when we get those breaks, we're still under more stress than a non-autistic person the rest of the time, just from living. From being in this world. From having to deal with constant input from the outside.

No, that is no one's fault indeed.

Stress levels can be measured. There are certain blood markers for them, for example.

By the way, stress hormones boost the body, make it ready to fight or flee, and increase attention to sensory input. "Increasing attention" makes the issue worse for us. We already perceive more than we can process. "Ready to fight or flee" means that we metabolise a number of substances more quickly than we can top them up by eating. We tend to develop deficits, making us feel generally less well than we could be feeling, which doesn't exactly make handling autism any easier.

But that is a different story to be told on a different day.

What do stress hormones do in the body?

Adrenalin and cortisol are our two prime "suspects". They accelerate heartbeat, increase blood pressure, increase muscle tone and raise blood glucose levels. Breathing speeds up. Digestion is temporarily shut down to avoid wasting energy.

That isn't the most pleasant situation one could be in, but if a person's stress level continues to rise further… and further… and further… it will sooner or later hit the danger cap. The body registers an excess of stress hormones. Being a body, and as such not very good at thinking independently, it has only one way to interpret this: it's facing an acute, existential threat.

It isn't a conscious decision. Imagine a switch being flipped, or a bucket running over if you keep filling in water. It doesn't matter if the bucket wants to hold the water.

Flipping that switch turns off thought. There may not be any danger at all, objectively speaking. It doesn't matter. The body has switched into survival mode. Thinking would be detrimental. It would slow down reactions. In this situation this sort of stress reaction is meant for, it could make the difference between life and death.

Conscious control is gone. Depending on situation and personal nature, a lot of things can happen now: people may withdraw into themselves ("playing dead") and fail to react to anything; they may run (flight) or even wildly attack anything that comes close and might touch them – verbally or physically.

What then?

Excessive stimulus has caused the issue, and every further stimulation – that is, every word spoken, every touch - will make the situation worse. (Note that for some people it's the other way around and specific types of touch maybe helpful. Please always make sure to ask the autistic person in question. Don't do so while the meltdown is underway, though. They can't answer you then, and if they could it wouldn't make much sense.).

Because the body has already mobilised everything it has, the person suffering a meltdown may exhibit strength or speed that they can barely dream of in any other situation.

Immense amounts of energy are burned up in a short period of time. Then it's over. The body is exhausted, its reserves are gone, and the only thing it can do is calm down. In the situation for which this reaction was once intended, the danger is now either gone, by destroying or escaping it, or will otherwise kill the person in question once they "run out of steam".

For today's autistic people, it just means that the meltdown is over. They can calm down. They return to a responsive state. They are deeply, utterly exhausted. Many of us will sleep after a meltdown, and may do so unusually deeply or long.

Some report that they feel more relaxed after a meltdown. Itr's logical. The body has just burned up everything that can cause tension. Yes. An autistic adult may come to the conclusion that, in some exceptional circumstances, provoking a meltdown is the way to go.

In a child – well, don't do that. Let me explain why in a moment.

By the way, the high stress level prevents the formation of (reliable) memoires. Many of us do not remember a meltdown. The only thing they keep form it is a great fear of the trigger, and of the condition as such. Why? Because what you experience during a meltdown is, quite literally, a mortal fear.

Do only autistic people experience meltdowns?

The short answer is: no. Generally, you can provoke a meltdown in anyone by exposing them to sufficient amounts of stress.

It's just a lot harder in a non-autistic person. You'd need a lot more stress to get them to the same level. That is: most of the time, you need an actually life-threatening situation.

The usual suspects: Acute (natural) disaster Torture. Soldiers in the war zone

Those are situations in which a "standard-issue human" may experience a meltdown first-hand.

And that means that an autistic child going through daily meltdowns is actually suffering the same amounts of stress that a soldier may experience in active battle duty while under fire.

Every day.

At school, and at home, in an environment that should be the safest there is.

Is it still surprising that so many autistic people fulfil every diagnosis criterion for PTSD as adults?

Therefore, the basic rule is: Meltdowns are a thing to be avoided.How can I tell the difference between a meltdown and a temper tantrum?

It's actually simply. Does the raging stop when you offer your child the thing it wanted? If so, it wasn't a meltdown.

That method may not always be desirable, or even feasible.

Another method that has a relatively low risk of a false negative: can you distract? Offer your child a glass of water. Say something that has zero relevance for the situation. Do something entirely silly/stupid/etc. If your kid's in a meltdown, they won't react to that (there may be a residual risk of a false positive in which the child in a tantrum just doesn’t care anymore.)

Underlying literature for the comparison to NTs:

Cognitive Performance and Mood associated with combat-like stress in Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine; Severe decrements in cognition, function and mood during simulated combat (Biological Psychiatry); Stress induced deficits in special operations soldiers, idem. Symptoms of dissociation in humans experiencing acute, uncontrollable stress (American Journal of Psychiatry);

On hormone and transmitter levels:

Relationships among Plasma Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate and Cortisol Levels, Symptoms of Dissociation and Objective Performance in Humans Exposed to Acute Stress (Archives of General Psychiatry), Relationship among plasma cortisol, catecholamines, neuropeptide Y and human performance during exposure to uncontrollable stress (Psychosomatic Medicine), Plasma Neuropeptide Y concentration in humans exposed to military survival training und Hormone Profiles in Humans experiencing Military Survival Training (both Biological Psychiatry).

[azworkingdogs]

The Miracle of CBD Oil for Dogs

Are you dealing with a dog who is suffering from painful, maybe life-threatening health issues?

Maybe your pit bull has such intense anxiety that she cowers during every thunderstorm, or your twelve-year-old schnauzer is struggling to walk from arthritic joints. Maybe you’ve got a rescue Golden Retriever with cancer.  Or a Corgi who suffers with seizures. While there are a growing number of natural health options available for canine health conditions, many either don’t work or have nasty side effects.

Fortunately, one alternative treatment that’s getting a lot of attention from the press and dog owners these days is CBD oil.   And it’s because there’s a growing body of evidence (both science based and anecdotal) that it WORKS!  Made from hemp, CBD oil is proving to offer relief and even healing from a wide variety of health problems…

… And as a result it’s increasing in popularity across the country.  And becoming difficult to keep in stock.

But what is CBD oil, and what health benefits can it offer your pet? Let’s look at the facts.

What is CBD?

Cannabinol (CBD) is one of over 85 compounds collectively known as cannabinoids that are found in the cannabis plant.[ii] CBD alone makes up close to 40 percent of the plant’s extracts, [iii] but it’s not what’s responsible for cannabis’s most famous properties.

Instead, a cannabinoid called THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is what actually produces the “high” that everyone associates with pot.

It takes a specialized CO2 extraction process to get a concentrated CBD oil from cannabis plants.  However, it’s worth as the resulting liquid is rich in amino acids, omega-3 fatty acids, terpenes, and other beneficial compounds.

For this reason, CBD oil is being used by people around the world to treat symptoms associated with a wide variety of health problems in both humans and dogs alike. [iv]

CBD and the Immune System

Why is CBD oil so special?

It’s the cannabinoids it contains.

These chemical compounds play a key role in regulating your mood, appetite and sleep cycle. Some are produced in your body (endocannabinoid) while others come from your diet  (phytocannabinoids). [v]

Cannabinoids work by attaching themselves to your body through either CB1 or CB2 receptors.

CB1 receptors are primarily linked to the brain, and they control coordination, cognition, mood, memory formation, and even appetite.

THC attaches to the CB1 (brain) receptors, which is why it produces a mental “high.”

CBD, on the other hand, only affects the CB2 receptors. These are directly connected to the immune system, and they are responsible for managing pain and inflammation.

And evidence shows that they stimulate your system to build its own receptors instead.[vi] So no matter what, if your immune system has been compromised, you can supplement your levels with CBD oil to make up the difference.

Cannabinoids and Dogs

So what does this mean for your dog? Research shows: the endocannabinoid system exists in all vertebrates, and dogs are no exception.[vii] Dogs share almost 70 percent of their essential biology with humans, and studies from the past decade show that cannabinoids bind to receptors within dogs in similar ways as they do with people.[viii] [ix]

While the research about CBD oil is still developing, it’s clear from what we know so far that the oil can reduce physical pain and inflammation without compromising mental functioning. [x]

Plus, it’s not a sedative that “masks” the underlying health problem by merely temporarily hiding your symptoms. Instead, cannabinol triggers the immune system in ways that improve, even reverse, non-normal functioning.

The Differences Between Hemp and Marijuana

Contrary to popular opinion, marijuana and hemp are not the same.

Both plants share the common ancestor of cannabis sativa, but centuries of selective breeding that focused on different characteristics has led to the development of two plants with significantly different ratios of cannabinoids.

To be classified as hemp, a cannabis plant can’t contain more than a 0.3 percent THC concentration. As THC is the coveted compound in pot plants, most marijuana varieties include upwards of 15 to 20 percent. [xi] Despite the amount of THC in the final product, it is classified as hemp or marijuana based on its plant of origin.

Is CBD Oil Legal?

How legal is CBD oil in the United States today?

That answer isn’t as clear as it could be, as regulations change depending on where you live and whether the compound comes from industrial hemp or marijuana plants.

Most simply put, though:

CBD oil derived from industrial hemp is legal across the country.

Marijuana runs the full spectrum from being entirely legal in some states, permitted only for medical use in others, and being banned entirely in the rest.

Likewise, many states permit people to grow “industrial hemp” while others forbid its production but allow it to be imported if grown elsewhere.

There is some debate about whether the effectiveness of CBD oil changes if it’s derived from hemp or marijuana.

Some people find THC improves their symptom relief from CBD.

However, this isn’t a factor you should consider for your pet.

Will CBD Oil Get Your Dog “High”?

You might have seen CBD oil showing up in a variety of dog-related products, from oils and capsules to specially formulated dog biscuits. Yet, many dog owners are leery of serving their pets a dose of cannabinoids. Will using CBD oil make your dog high? The odds are virtually zero. THC highs are dangerous for dogs, so canine-grade CBD oils should always come from hemp.[xii] CBD oil can provide your pet with a calming feeling and reduce chronic pain, but it its lack of psychoactive qualities means that it won’t create a “high” or affect them mentally.

Nine Ways that CBD Oil Might Help Your Dog

Will CBD oil improve the health of your pet? The evidence seems to show so. Some of the conditions that the compound can address include the following.

1. Calms Down Aggression and Skittishness

If your dog regularly lunges on a leash or cowers under the bed when a stranger comes in, CBD oil might reduce that anxiety so that he can develop new patterns of behavior. Likewise, CBD oil can improve the quality of life for dogs that deal with anxiety when their owners leave, helping to prevent them from indulging in destructive behaviors like chewing, pacing, urinating, and more.

According to CBD World,[xiii] one reviewer’s dog had cancer and severe storm anxiety for his entire life. This stress triggered vomiting, which made it hard for the dog to eat enough to keep his weight within a healthy range. Regular doses of a CBD oil tincture improved his sleep and helped him keep down food. After a few weeks of treatment, his general anxiety was almost gone, and the dog was able to maintain a healthier weight because of it.

2. Treats Seizures and Epilepsy

Suffering from seizures is a struggle for both pets and their owners, but CBD oil is proven to make a difference. The compound has been found to be a practical treatment option for managing seizures in humans as they are experiencing them, and it can reduce their frequency over time.

One study revealed a profound improvement in seizure intensity within five months of treatment,[xiv] and another study that looked specifically at children found that they experienced an 84 percent reduction in the frequency of their seizures. [xv]

Close to five percent of dogs suffer from seizures, and many of these dogs take prescription medications like phenobarbital and potassium bromide. While these medications can reduce the incidence of seizures, most have harmful effects on the liver and other organs, and they can trigger lethargy, dizziness, and confusion for your pet. Likewise, some dogs develop drug-resistant epilepsy that defies attempts at treatment.[xvi]

However, anecdotal evidence shows that CBD oil can treat all forms of seizure conditions, especially in situations where other drugs don’t work. In one case, Rocky the bulldog suffered from extreme seizures that triggered erratic movements and foaming at the mouth. Though his owner tried many different prescription medications, nothing made a difference for his symptoms until he gave Rocky two spoons of CBD oil in the middle of a seizure. Within seconds, the CBD calmed his shaking and Rocky was restored to normal.[xvii]

In another instance, Bernie, a Swiss mountain dog, started undergoing grand mal seizures at just six months old that left him completely incapacitated. Bernie’s medication made him disoriented and it was harming his liver, so his owners tried CBD oil instead. The supplement reduced the severity and frequency of his seizures until they eventually disappeared.[xviii]

If your pup hasn’t responded well to standard seizure medication, consider treating them with Full Spectrum CBD Oil for Dogs instead.

3. Relieves Chronic Pain

It’s extremely common for older dogs to develop arthritis in their joints.

As this is caused by inflammation that leads to aching and degenerative illnesses, some dog owners report that their pet’s arthritis responds well to CBD oil.[xix] The compound acts as a natural pain reliever, and it also works to soothe irritation to prevent arthritis from getting established.[xx]

In one instance, Sadie the dog suffered from debilitating hip pain until she was treated with CBD oil. The treatment improved her gait, and it even reduced her chronic anxiety during thunderstorms.[xxi]

The research is still forthcoming, but many doctors are impressed enough with CBD’s potential that they are considering it as a unique class of drug for addressing chronic pain.[xxii]

4. Boosts Appetite

Dogs lose their appetites for numerous reasons, but the issue is often linked to nausea.

You can improve your pet’s desire to eat by giving her CBD oil to eliminate any digestive distress.[xxiii] Likewise, the National Cancer Institute states that CBD oil can increase appetite,[xxiv] making it a smart way to get a stubborn dog to touch his food again.

Some CBD oil products are formulated within dog biscuits to make the process easier for pet owners, but you can also feed your pup a dropperful of Full Spectrum CBD oil directly to help the process.[xxv]

5. Prevents and Fights Cancer

A canine cancer diagnosis is crushing for any owner, and the condition (along with chemotherapy treatments) can result in numerous unpleasant side effects like chronic pain, loss of appetite, and general nausea. Many dog owners claim that CBD oil makes an excellent treatment option because it keeps these side effects under control.[xxvi]

They also say that CBD oil can improve the effectiveness of conventional cancer treatment.[xxvii]

Even more impressive, the compound can slow the rate that cancer spreads and kill off cells by boosting the power of the immune system so that it prevents the cancer from getting established. The oil contains properties that inhibit tumor formation, which means that a small daily dose of high-quality CBD oil daily might reduce your pet’s cancer risk or slow tumor growth.[xxviii] [xxix] [xxx]

In one instance, Monkey the cat was diagnosed with terminal intestinal cancer. Her chemotherapy’s side effects caused her to stop eating and sleeping, and she became lethargic. Monkey’s owner mixed some CBD oil into her food, and it immediately brought her energy back- to the point that she was acting healthier than she had before cancer. While the CBD didn’t cure her (Monkey passed away a few months later), her owner was happy the oil improved her quality of life for the time she had left.[xxxi]

6. Helps with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Ingesting CBD oil has impressive benefits for the digestive system, and numerous studies report that it can prevent you and your pet from developing irritable bowel disease.[xxxii] Also, thanks to natural antibacterial properties, the compound can inhibit the highly-dangerous Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) bacteria from establishing itself. [xxxiii]

7. Reduces Autoimmune Disease

As CBD oil plays a role in managing the immune system, the compound can decrease the production of inflammatory cytokines that trigger autoimmune disorders, allergies, and other sensitivities.[xxxiv]

Part of the benefit comes from its ability to suppress the formation of Th17 dominance, a significant cause of autoimmune diseases.[xxxv] The compound is also a powerful antioxidant (more potent than vitamins C and E),[xxxvi] and it can reduce cases of chronic inflammation for your dog.

8. Protects the Nervous System

Spine and nervous system problems are unfortunately common in dogs, but addressing these concerns with a CBD oil treatment might be a way forward for better treatment. Human and canine research alike shows some promise for helping patients with neurogenerative disorders like ALS, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease by protecting the brain from cell death triggered by free radicals.[xxxvii]

9. Promotes Cardiovascular Health

CBD oil might be good for the canine heart. Research has shown that the compound can reduce damage to blood vessels, even out irregular heart rates, and reduce blood pressure problems associated with stress and anxiety.[xxxviii] [xxxix]In other words, taking CBD oil supplements can keep your pet’s heart ticking as it should.

In one example, a Jack Russell had a heart murmur improve after regular treatment with CBD oil … a condition that generally doesn’t get better on its own.[xl]

Treat Your Pet with Full Spectrum CBD Oil

For those looking for a natural alternative to prescription pet medications, CBD oil holds much promise. Our Full Spectrum CBD Oil For Dogs is organic, sourced from industrial hemp (so legal), pesticide free and solvent free.

However, please note that high global demand for CBD oil means there have been shortages in North America and we anticipate that our stock may sell out quickly.

If you’re interested in trying CBD oil with your dog, click here now to get complete details.

(And purchase early, if you’re interested, to make sure you don’t miss out!)

[i] PetMD: Seven Common Side Effects of Pet Medication

[ii] Livescience: What is THC

[iii] Medical News Today: Everything You Need to Know About Hemp and CBD Oil

[iv] Hempmedspx: About Hemp Stalk Oil

[v] Ministry of Hemp: Made from Hemp

[vi] Echo Connection: A Look at Endocannabinoid Systems

[vii] Role of the endocannabinoid system in vertebrates: Emphasis on the zebrafish model.

[viii] CBD World: Using Hemp Oil to Treat Our Dogs

[ix] HolistaPet: The Endocannabinoid System in Dogs and Cats Explained

[x] Medical News Today: Everything You Need to Know About Hemp and CBD Oil

[xi] Hempmedspx: Which States is CBD Oil Legal to Purchase?

[xii] Preventivevet: What to Know if You Want to Give Your Dog CBD Oil

[xiii] CBD World: Using Hemp CBD Oil to Treat Our Dogs

[xiv] Hypnotic and antiepileptic effects of cannabidiol

[xv] Report of a parent survey of cannabidiol-enriched cannabis use in pediatric treatment-resistant epilepsy

[xvi] American Epilepsy Society: Efficacy and safety of epidiolex (cannabidiol) in children and young adults with treatment-resistent epilepsy: Initial data from an expanded access program

[xvii] Mirror: Dog suffering terrifying seizures transforms within seconds thanks to CANNABIS oil

[xviii] The Guardian: Pets on pot: is medical marijuana giving sick animals a necessary dose of relief?

[xix] Medical News Today: Can CBD oil relieve arthritis pain?

[xx] Cannabinoids suppress inflammatory and neuropathic pain by targeting α3 glycine receptors

[xxi] CBDWorld: Using Hemp CBD Oil to Treat Our Dogs

[xxii] Cannabidiol as an emergent therapeutic strategy for lessening the impact of inflammation on oxidative stress

[xxiii] Cannabidiol, a non-psychotropic component of cannabis, attenuates vomiting and nausea-like behaviour via indirect agonism of 5-HT(1A) somatodendritic autoreceptors in the dorsal raphe nucleus.

[xxiv] Cancer.gov: Cannabis and Cannabinoids (PDQ®)–Patient Version

[xxv] Cancer.gov: Cannabis and Cannabinoids (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version

[xxvi] Cancer.org: Marijuana and Cancer

[xxvii] Phyto-, endo- and synthetic cannabinoids: promising chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment of breast and prostate carcinomas

[xxviii] Cannabidiol-Induced Apoptosis in Human Leukemia Cells: A Novel Role of Cannabidiol in the Regulation of p22phox and Nox4 Expression

[xxix] Cannabinoids increase lung cancer cell lysis by lymphokine-activated killer cells via upregulation of ICAM-1.

[xxx] Cannabidiol rather than Cannabis sativa extracts inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis in cervical cancer cells

[xxxi] The Guardian: Pets on pot: is medical marijuana giving sick animals a necessary dose of relief?

[xxxii] Project CBD: Irritable Bowel

[xxxiii] Antibacterial cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa: a structure-activity study.

[xxxiv] Cannabinoids in intestinal inflammation and cancer.

[xxxv] Cannabinoids decrease the th17 inflammatory autoimmune phenotype.

[xxxvi] Cannabidiol and (−)Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol are neuroprotective antioxidants

[xxxvii] Cannabidiol for neurodegenerative disorders: important new clinical applications for this phytocannabinoid?

[xxxviii] Acute administration of cannabidiol in vivo suppresses ischaemia-induced cardiac arrhythmias and reduces infarct size when given at reperfusion

[xxxix] Effects of cannabidiol and diazepam on behavioral and cardiovascular responses induced by contextual conditioned fear in rats

[xl] Dogs Naturally Magazine: CBD Oil for Dogs

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[ghaw2007]

10 Apple Benefits

10 Apple Benefits

1. Great Source of Cancer-Fighting Antioxidants

Apples are a high-antioxidant food and a very significant source of flavonoids in people’s diets in the U.S. and in Europe. In the United States, 22 percent of the phenolic antioxidants consumed from fruits are from apples, making them the largest single source of these compounds.

Apples are ranked second among all types of fruit for their total concentration of phenolic compounds, a class of bioactive substances that includes flavonoids, second to cranberries. And compared to all other types of fruit, apples have the highest portion of free phenolic compounds, which means these molecules are not bound to other compounds in the fruit that can slow down their beneficial activity in the body.

Research shows that beneficial antioxidants found in apples include quercetin, catechin, phloridzin and chlorogenic acid. Because of these special compounds, apples do more than combat free radicals — they also have anti-proliferative and beneficial cell-signaling effects.

In studies, anti-inflammatory foods like apples are linked with the prevention of prostate cancer because of their supply of quercetin. Other evidence suggests that certain protective phytochemicals in the skin of apples can help inhibit the reproduction of cancer cells within the colon. Since both cardiovascular disease and cancer are thought to be highly related to a condition called oxidative stress — which happens over time as damage to cells and DNA form — the ability to fight off free radical damage and oxidation is what gives apples their healing power (hence, it’s a part of my healing diet).

One thing to note here is that you want to eat the whole apple to get the most benefits, including the skin. When researchers studied the antioxidant capacity of pears and apples, they found that diets that included the fruit peels had a significantly higher level of healthy fatty acids (higher plasma lipid levels) and antioxidant activity than diets that discarded the peels and only ate the fruit’s pulp.

2. Help Prevent Inflammation

Phytochemicals found in colorful fruits, including phenolics, flavonoids and carotenoids, are known to reduce the risk for many chronic diseases that are widespread but largely preventable. This is because phytochemicals keep arteries clear, lower inflammatory responses and prevent high levels of oxidative stress.

Recent work from California State University suggests that high-antioxidant foods including apples are associated with “improved outcomes related to cognitive decline of normal aging, diabetes, weight management, bone health, pulmonary function, and gastrointestinal protection.”

3. Fight Heart Disease

There’s strong existing evidence that a diet that includes plenty of high-fiber foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, can help decrease the risk of numerous chronic diseases, including the number one killer in the U.S.: heart disease. Many studies have shown that people who consume more fresh plant foods filled with antioxidants experience lower inflammation and, therefore, have a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.

The specific type of fiber found in apples, called pectin, is especially known to be beneficial for lowering cholesterol levels naturally. One 2003 study found that when rats were fed a diet high in apple pectin extract and freeze-dried apples, they experienced significantly lower levels of cholesterol absorption and triglycerides than the control group. The group of rats receiving both apple pectin and the dried apples (instead of only one of these) experienced the most benefits in terms of intestine fermentations and lipid metabolism. This suggests that interactions between fibers and polyphenols in apples together play an important role in markers of heart health.

One study carried out by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health followed adults over a 15-year period and found that, overall, greater intake of fruits and vegetables was associated with lower risk of all-cause death and cardiovascular disease. There’s also evidence that antioxidant-rich fruits can play a role in preventing strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diverticulosis and hypertension.

4. High in Fiber

With over four grams of fiber in every one, apples are an ultimate high-fiber food and a great way to make sure you’re covering your bases of 25–30 grams daily. Apples are especially known for providing pectin, a type of soluble fiber that works by binding to fatty substances in the digestive tract — including cholesterol and toxins — and promoting their elimination.

The fiber found in apples helps make you feel full, since it expands in your intestines and takes up volume, but it’s also important for detoxification. Apple nutrition benefits the working of the digestive system because pectin regulates the body’s use of sugars and cholesterol while also helping to cleanse the blood and digestive tract.

5. Improve Digestive Health

Following a high fiber diet has been shown to fight digestive issues like IBS and even cancers of the digestive system. Higher fruit intake is correlated with better general digestive health, especially of the colon, stomach and bladder. The phytonutrients found in apples can help protect the digestive organs from oxidative stress, alkalize the body and balance pH levels.

When it comes to natural constipation relief, consuming plenty of high-fiber foods is a great way to prevent or treat this issue. Pectin in apples is also considered a natural diuretic and has a mild laxative effect, so this can help combat bloating and uncomfortable water retention. Try either eating raw apples (remember to also eat the skin) or adding them to recipes by blending them first. You can also obtain benefits by juicing apples, although you’ll want to avoid the types of high-sugar juices found in most grocery stores.

6. Good Source of Vitamin C

One apple supplies about 14 percent of your daily vitamin C, which is considered a powerful antioxidant that’s important for skin, eye, immune and brain health. Like other antioxidants we obtain through fresh vegetables and fruits, vitamin C fights free radical damage and helps protect DNA and cells from mutation and malformation.

Research shows that vitamin C is crucial for maintaining a healthy metabolism and repairing tissue, especially in the eyes and skin. Vitamin C-rich foods like apples have natural anti-aging effects because they promote skin cell renewal, help heal wounds or cuts, guard against infections and harmful bacteria, and also block damage from UV light exposure.

7. Can Help You Manage Your Weight

Much research has shown that higher fruit and vegetable intake is linked with protection against obesity. While apples provide high levels of important nutrients and antioxidants, they’re also low in calories since a high percentage of their volume is water and fiber.

Because they have a good dose of dietary fiber, which contains zero digestible calories and is useful for sustaining healthy blood sugar levels, apples can satisfy your sweet tooth without weighing your down or adding to food cravings. Indeed, when added to other smart ways to shed pounds, you can lose weight fast with the help of apples.

8. Can Help Fight Diabetes

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that eating five or more combined servings of fruits and vegetables daily significantly cut the risk of diabetes formation in adults. It might seem counterintuitive that fruits and vegetables, which naturally contain some sugar, would be inversely associated with diabetes incidence, but this has been shown time and time again in studies.

Certain flavonoids present in apples and other fruits are known to improve insulin sensitivity, which is key to preventing both diabetes and long-term weight gain. The other antioxidants and fiber found in apples also play a role in their anti-diabetic effects, since we know that a diet high in fiber and phytonutrients acts like a natural diabetes treatment.

Because apples are high in fiber, they’re considered a fruit that’s low on the glycemic index. Compared to refined carbohydrates or sweetened products, apples have the ability to unleash sugar into the bloodstream at a slower rate. This means they keep blood sugar levels more stable and prevent fluctuations in blood glucose that can potentially lead to insulin resistance.

9. Can Help Fight Asthma Symptoms

Interestingly, apples have been shown to act like a natural asthma remedy and are associated with general pulmonary health. In a 2003 study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition involving 1,600 adults in Australia, apple and pear intake was associated with a decreased risk of asthma and a decrease in bronchial hypersensitivity.

The study surveyed nearly 600 individuals with asthma and 900 individuals without asthma about their diets and lifestyles. Total fruit and vegetable intake was found to be only weakly associated with asthma, but apple intake showed a stronger inverse relationship with asthma. The beneficial effect was most clear in subjects who consumed at least two apples per week.

What’s also interesting is that this seems to be uniquely an apple nutrition benefit; onion, tea and red wine consumption were not related to asthma incidence even though they also contain similar phytochemicals. This suggests that there are special interactions of apple flavonoids that help control asthma symptoms better than other antioxidants and nutrients.

10. High Source of Boron

A little known fact about apples nutrition? They’re one of the best natural sources of boron, a mineral that is important for building strong bones and helping to prevent osteoporosis. Boron uses and benefits include helping to develop sex hormones, building muscle mass and supporting brain function. Some evidence also shows that low boron intake might be associated with fatigue, arthritis and mood changes.

http://musicbanter.com/song-writing-lyrics-poetry/79770-ghaw2007s-lyrics-collection.html http://futureproducers.com/forums/production-techniques/songwriting-and-lyricism/ghaw2007s-lyrics-523656 http://musesongwriters.com/forums/index.php?/topic/65827-ghaw2007s-lyrics http://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/55799-ghaw2007s-lyrics http://justusboys.com/forum/threads/435561-ghaw2007-s-Lyrics http://gayheaven.org/showthread.php?t=536605 http://allthelyrics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=159439 http://writerscafe.org/ghaw/writing http://songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=11560.0

[heathertruitt]

Ranking the best taurine supplements of 2018

Taurine is an amino acid that can be used to boost athletic performance and cognitive function.

It’s also found in many pre-workout drinks.

Unlike many other amino acids, it is not used to build muscle tissue; instead, it appears to be used to regulate the energy production process, both in your muscles and in your brain.

It’s a safe and effective way to increase physical and mental performance across the board, and seems to work well both for athletes in great shape and for people with chronic disease.

If you want to get the most out of your body and your mind, check our our taurine supplement reviews. We’ve ranked the ten best taurine supplements currently on the market.

1. NOW Double Strength Taurine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

NOW Double Strength Taurine has 1000 mg of pure taurine in each capsule, and the capsules are made from a vegan-friendly vegetable cellulose blend.

The supplement is pretty clean, with only stearic acid added to bind the capsule together. It’s a good solution if you want a high-dose capsule-based taurine supplement for an energy and performance boost when you’re out and about.

2. Pure Encapsulations Taurine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

Pure Encapsulations is one of the best solutions when it comes to a moderate dose taurine supplement. With a vegetable cellulose capsule and 500 mg of taurine in each serving, it’s well-suited for anyone who wants the benefits of taurine in a more manageable dosage.

While there’s nothing wrong with a higher dose, shorter, lighter, and smaller-framed people likely don’t need as much taurine to get the optimal effects.

3. BulkSupplements Pure Taurine Powder

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

BulkSupplements is the perfect choice if you are making your own energy drink blend, or if you want to customize a pre-workout supplement to amp up your workout.

Powder is never as convenient as a capsule, because you’ll need a micro-scale if you want precise dosages. With taurine, though, where the active dosage is fairly large (circa one gram) and there are no real problems with going over the optimal dosage, this is less of an issue.

BulkSupplements should be the top choice for anyone who wants to mix taurine with other ingredients, as this supplement is 100% pure—there are zero additional ingredients.

4. Thorne Research Taurine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

Thorne Research is known for their minimal and pure supplement designs, and that’s definitely what they deliver here.

The vegetable cellulose capsules have 500 mg of taurine each, plus a bit of silicon dioxide to prevent clumping. This last ingredient isn’t popular among the strictest supplement purists, but just about everyone else can be happy with this taurine supplement.

5. Amazing Formulas Taurine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

At 1000 mg per capsule, Amazing Formulas has a simple and high-dose taurine supplement. While the animal-based gelatin capsule won’t make strict vegetarians happy, just about everyone else who is looking for a high dosage taurine capsule will be pleased with the simple and straightforward design.

6. Solgar Taurine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

Solgar makes basic supplements with no frills or unnecessary additives. This definitely applies to their taurine supplement.

It has 500 mg of taurine per capsule, using vegetable cellulose as the capsule material and with vegetable derived stearic acid as a binder. It’s a pure and reliable supplement if you are looking for a lower dose of taurine.

7. Nutricost Taurine Powder

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

Nutricost makes a bulk powder form of taurine, but compared to other options on the market, it comes in a smaller size, making it less convenient for DIY energy drink mixers and others who want to make their own blends.

The one advantage it does have is that it comes in a plastic tub, which is slightly less messy than a resealable plastic bag.

8. Best Naturals 100% Pure Taurine Powder

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

Best Naturals makes a powder-form taurine powder, though this brand is not as well-established as some of the other powder-based manufacturers.

On the other hand, this powder does come in a large plastic tub versus the resealable bag used by some of its competitors, and each tub contains a whole pound of taurine, making it a good choice for bulk users.

9. Nutricost Taurine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

Nutricost also makes a capsule-based taurine supplement, which has 1000 mg per serving. This high-dose taurine supplement uses a gelatin capsule, making it a poor candidate for vegetarians and vegans, but the fact that it doesn’t include any other ingredients aside from taurine and gelatin do make it attractive for purists.

10. GNC Taurine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

GNC Taurine doesn’t quite match up to the best competitors, as its dosage is on the low end and it doesn’t have any real defining features that set it apart.

It’s got a few additional binders and additives you won’t find in other supplements, which end up putting it lower down in the rankings.

Taurine benefits and side effects

Taurine, a naturally-occurring amino acid, is an effective supplement for boosting your performance at both physical and mental tasks.

It’s often used by athletes to increase power, speed, and fatigue resistance, and it’s often found in energy drinks because of its across the board benefit for both cognitive and physical performance.

While most amino acids are used by your body to build muscle tissue, taurine is different. It appears to play a role in the regulation of energy production, and in the bloodstream, it’s one of the rare compounds that can cross the blood-brain barrier, which is likely what allows it to create the cognitive benefits it is known for.

Benefits

Taurine, especially when combined with caffeine, can boost physical performance in endurance events. Research on the effects of taurine on exercise performance have mostly focused on using taurine in conjunction with caffeine, as this is the combination of biologically active compounds found most often in energy drinks.

Research published in the journal Amino Acids found that this combination leads to improved performance in endurance events (1).

In this study, researchers took ten cyclists and supplied them with either a taurine/caffeine supplement or a placebo 30 min prior to a cycling time trial.

The results demonstrated that the taurine and caffeine in combination improved endurance performance, and this improvement was associated with a change in hormone levels.

Since this hormonal change is not associated with caffeine alone, it suggests that taurine itself is responsible for a large part of the improvement in performance.

A taurine supplement can improve cognitive performance. In a rare study that isolated the effects of individual ingredients in energy drinks, researchers at Tufts University examined how taurine affects performance on cognitive ability tests (2).

Taurine appeared to improve cognitive performance specifically on choice-reaction tests, where you must quickly make a decision when presented with many different options. Like with physical performance, taurine’s cognitive effects appear to be enhanced when used alongside caffeine.

A study published by researchers at the University of Vienna in Austria studied the cognitive and emotional effects of a taurine and caffeine energy drink on ten subjects (3).

After administering an energy drink or a placebo drink, the subjects performed a battery of cognitive tests and completed a mood evaluation. The results showed that the energy drink increased mental performance and resulted in an overall boost in mood.

The researchers noted that half of the subjects were not regular caffeine users, and thus these results couldn’t be explained by simple caffeine withdrawal in the placebo group.

Taurine can improve exercise capacity in people with heart failure. The performance benefits of taurine are not just for elite athletes. An entire branch of the research on the supplemental use of taurine is focused on its benefits for people with heart failure and other chronic health problems.

Physician-supervised exercise is a proven, evidence-based treatment for chronic heart failure, but as you might guess, people whose hearts are already not working very well have a difficult time performing much in the way of physical exercise (4).

This is where taurine comes in. Its energetic benefits to muscle appear to extend to the heart as well (which is, after all, just another muscle). A study published in the Journal of Cardiology in 2011 examined how taurine could help patients with heart failure (5).

Twenty-nine patients were split into either a taurine group which took a 500 mg taurine supplement three times per day, or a placebo group who received an inert supplement. All of the subjects performed an exercise tolerance test before and after two weeks of taurine supplementation.

The researchers found that the taurine supplement increased exercise tolerance, while the placebo group had no significant change in their exercise tolerance levels. Under the supervision of your doctor, a taurine supplement taken three times per day could improve your ability to exercise if you have heart failure.

Taurine may reduce anxiety. One problem with some stimulants that increase mental and physical performance is that they can make you jittery and anxious.

Taurine, on the other hand, may have a soothing and anxiety-relieving effect. So far, research has been limited to animal studies, but the initial results are promising.

A 2006 paper in the journal Psychopharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior by researchers in China tested several doses of taurine on mice exposed to three different anxiety-inducing tests (5).

The results from all three tests showed that taurine caused a reducing in anxiety-related behavior, leading the authors to hypothesize that taurine reduces anxiety by mediating the response of the central nervous system when exposed to anxiety-inducing situations.

Side effects

As with other amino acids that occur naturally in foods, taurine appears to be completely safe, even at very high doses.

A risk assessment published by the Washington, DC-based Counsel on Responsible Nutrition in the journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology affirmed that even very high doses of three grams per day appear to pose no risk of adverse effects (6).

The European Food Safety Authority went even further, asserting that no negative effects can be expected for up to one gram per kilogram of body mass, which would be an enormous dose (7).

Both of these reports suggest even at high intake levels of taurine, you don’t need to worry about adverse effects.

Recommended dosage

In the scientific research, optimal results have been achieved for physical and mental performance with a dosage of 1000 mg of taurine.

This is usually administered 30 minutes prior to either a cognitive or physical test of ability. Medical literature usually uses a dose of 500 mg of taurine taken three times per day, morning, afternoon, and at night. This will keep taurine levels higher throughout the day, and is more useful if your goal is to stay alert and ready to perform throughout the day.

If your goal is simply to perform at one specific time, a larger dose taken half an hour out looks to be the best strategy.

As noted earlier, there doesn’t seem to be any harm in higher doses of taurine, but there isn’t any evidence for benefits on the far side of 1500 mg per day.

Recap

Taurine is a safe and effective amino acid supplement that can be used to boost physical performance, improve cognitive performance, elevate your mood, and reduce anxiety.

Research has found it useful both for athletes and for people with chronic health problems like heart failure. It appears to carry no side effects, even at very high doses.

For physical and mental performance, it appears to work best when combined with caffeine, but even without, its benefits span a wide range of categories, making it a good candidate for a safe and easy way to perform and feel better.

https://bodynutrition.org/taurine/

https://bodynutritionorg.wordpress.com/2018/06/21/ranking-the-best-taurine-supplements-of-2018/

[jakehglover]

10 Things to Do Daily to Help Your Brain

By Dr. Mercola

Even though your brain affects everything you do, you probably don't give it — literally — much thought. Clever pun aside, how often do you actually consider what your brain may need to stay healthy? Given the fact your brain impacts all aspects of your life — from happiness and health, to relationships and rest — it's important you understand how to take care of it.

While aging and genes have some effect, they may not have the final word about the fate of your brain. Your brain's lifelong neuroplasticity enables you to have continual influence over its health based on how you eat, sleep, exercise, express yourself, manage stress and more. The actions, attitudes and thoughts you have today, as well as the daily lifestyle choices you make, all play a meaningful role in your brain's health.

With more than 5 million Americans currently living with Alzheimer's disease and as many as 16 million expected to suffer with it by 2050,1 brain care is not a subject you can afford to ignore. Start today by reviewing the following 10 actions you can take daily to positively impact the health of your brain.2

1. Get Proper Sleep

About 1 in 3 Americans gets less than seven hours of sleep a night, and an estimated 83.6 million adults in the U.S. are sleep-deprived.3,4 You may be suffering from sleep deprivation if you work the night shift, have a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea or spend a lot of time in front of electronic gadgets at night. Particularly if your habit is to sleep five or fewer hours a night, you may be putting yourself at risk of cognitive decline and memory issues that will only accelerate as you age.

Dr. Paul Mathew, neurologist and assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, underscores the value of sleep to your overall health and well-being. He says:5

"Sleep is a critically important component of human existence. On average, humans spend about 25 to 35 percent of their lives sleeping. Sleep allows both the body and brain to rest and recover from the stress of daily life. As such, trouble sleeping can cause a range of health problems, and, if left untreated, dire consequences.

Even if sleep duration is good, sleep quality can be quite poor. People who wake up many times during the night can have some nights with zero hours of deep, restful sleep. Poor sleep quantity and/or quality can cause excessive daytime drowsiness … chronic fatigue, headaches, mood issues, irritability, poor memory and cognitive dysfunction."

The National Sleep Foundation offers three tips to support your body's need for quality sleep:6

Vary your wake-up time on the weekends no more than an hour from your weekday schedule to better support a consistent sleep-wake schedule, also known as your body's circadian rhythm

Take a 20-to-30-minute nap on weekend afternoons, ideally between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Keep your naps on the shorter side to avoid feeling groggy or cranky after them, and especially to prevent feeling too awake at bedtime

Whatever your approach, research suggests adults need right around eight hours of sleep a night. The sleep needs of seniors, young adults, teenagers and children vary. If you are not sure how much sleep you should be getting, review the sleep needs according to your age. Using a wearable fitness tracker at night may help you gain more insight into your sleep patterns.

2. Train Your Unconscious Mind

According to the documentary "Automatic Brain: The Magic of the Unconscious Mind," your subconscious mind manages about 90 percent of everything you do whether you are asleep or awake. You may be surprised to learn your conscious mind plays only a minor role in guiding your life. In reality, most of what you think, say and do every day is a function of your "automatic," or unconscious brain (also known as your subconscious). Without you fully realizing it, your brain essentially is running your life on autopilot.

Because your subconscious plays such a big role, you will benefit from a better understanding of it, which will help you leverage it to your full advantage. Writing in Psychology Today, Matt James, Ph.D., president of The Empowerment Partnership and master trainer of neuro linguistic programming, assigns several qualities to your unconscious brain. Among them, states James, your unconscious brain:7

• Acts like a young child: Similar to a young child, your unconscious mind needs clear, detailed directions and lots of reminders. It takes instructions literally, so be sure to give it specific (and positive) guidance.

• Communicates through emotion and symbols: To get your attention quickly, your unconscious mind uses feelings, imagery and symbols. It's your job to discern what they mean.

• Deals with positives only: Negative words like "don't," "no" or "not" are largely ignored by your unconscious mind. For this reason, it is better to say, "I am going to improve my health by avoiding smoking" as opposed to "I don't want to smoke." You can also use creative imaging to center your mind on positive thoughts.

Because your unconscious mind has a pervasive influence on your life, you can actively harness its power and direct its influence in positive, life-giving ways by:8

• Expressing yourself artistically: Artistic endeavors such as coloring, drawing or painting make use of your subconscious by allowing your creativity to surface and making space for the expression of your true feelings. Because the goal is to tap into your unconscious mind, you don't need to be a great artist, just open to the creative process.

• Rehearsing desired outcomes: A great way to program a new activity, skill or thought into your unconscious mind is to rehearse it and repeat it until it takes root. Similar to the countless songs and jingles lodged in your subconscious, you can rehearse new attitudes, ideas, outcomes and thoughts that you want to become reality. By frequently repeating out loud what you want, you aid your subconscious mind in catching on and helping you achieve your desired outcomes.

• Reviewing before bed: A great way to learn new material, such as exam material, goals, presentations or speeches, is to review it right before you go to sleep. Doing so helps transfer the content to your subconscious, putting it at the forefront of your mind as you drift off to sleep, and potentially influencing the content of your dreams.

3. Focus on One Task at a Time

Multitasking is perceived to be more efficient than a single-minded focus, but you'll feel calmer and more relaxed if you choose to focus on one task at a time. Think about the last time you tried to talk on the phone with a friend while cooking supper or checking your email. I bet you missed much of what your friend was saying because your brain was trying to split time between two very different activities.

Research conducted by Stanford University suggests multitasking reduces your efficiency because your brain can only do one thing well at a time. The study authors said: "People who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time."9,10 So, give your brain a break and put your focus exclusively on the one task or person at hand. You may be surprised at the results.

4. Exercise Regularly

If you exercise regularly, you not only will have a healthier body, but a better brain, too. Regardless of your age, exercise can provide enormous benefits for your body and your mind. If you're over 40, it's especially important to step up your exercise program because your physical strength, stamina, balance and flexibility are beginning to decline due to age. Fortunately, doing the right type of exercise can help you counteract these declines.

To achieve optimal benefits, you'll want to establish a comprehensive exercise program that includes high-intensity exercises, strength training, core exercises and stretching. I also urge you to consider walking, in addition to your regular workout regimen, aiming for 10,000 to 15,000 steps per day. Avoid sitting as much as possible — limiting your sitting to three hours a day or less. Prolonged sitting is a risk factor for chronic disease and early death — even if you are very fit and exercise regularly.

In terms of the effect exercise has on your brain, scientists have suggested it can trigger a change in the way your amyloid precursor protein is metabolized, thereby slowing down the onset and progression of Alzheimer's.11 Exercise also increases your levels of the protein PGC-1alpha. Research has shown people with Alzheimer's have less PGC-1alpha in their brains.

A meta-analysis of 19 research studies published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine12 suggests exercise has strong, positive effects on the brains of individuals ages 6 to 35. The study authors said, "acute physical exercise enhances executive functioning" in preadolescent children, adolescents and young adults.

5. Write Down Your Thoughts

The prevalence of computers, smartphones and tablets, as well as the diminished emphasis on handwriting means communication involving pen and paper is becoming less common. As such, technology is causing us to miss out on the brain benefits of writing. For example, research suggests writing things by hand helps you better internalize information and ensures you retain it.13,14 The study authors stated:15

"[E]ven when laptops are used solely to take notes, they may still be impairing learning because their use results in shallower processing. In three studies, we found that students who took notes on laptops performed worse on conceptual questions than students who took notes longhand. We show … laptop note takers' tendency to transcribe lectures verbatim, rather than processing information and reframing it in their own words, is detrimental to learning."

In addition, getting your thoughts down on paper can help you remove "mind clutter," especially before going to bed. If you are feeling highly stressed and anticipate not sleeping well as a result, make time to write out your thoughts before going to bed. Simply take out a pad of paper and a pen, set a timer for five to 10 minutes and begin writing whatever comes to mind. Avoid editing yourself and write literally anything and everything that comes to mind.

When left unchecked, lingering negative feelings and the emotional stress accompanying them can wreak havoc on your brain health. This is true even if you are doing everything else — diet, exercise and sleep, for instance — "right." Over time, as you stick with this habit — ideally as a weekly or even daily activity — your brain will connect with your subconscious, uncovering and surfacing valuable insights and thoughts of which you had previously been unaware.

If you are not sure how to address the issues and concerns that surface as you write them on paper, you might try the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). It is a handy tool that involves light tapping over the major energy meridians of your body. EFT is quick and painless, and you can use it as often as you need to unload emotional baggage.

6. Eat a Healthy Diet

The following dietary recommendations are vital for maintaining brain health and staving off Alzheimer's:

• Eat real food, ideally organic. Be sure to choose organic grass fed meats and animal products. Research has shown vegetables to be particularly beneficial for slowing age-related cognitive decline due to the antioxidants they contain. Avoid processed foods of all kinds because they contain items known to be harmful to your brain, such as refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, glutinous grains, genetically engineered ingredients and pesticides.

• Replace refined carbohydrates with healthy fats. Contrary to what most people think, your brain does not need carbohydrates and sugars for fuel. What it does need is healthy fats, such as saturated animal fats and animal-based omega-3s, which are far more important for optimal brain function. Avoid all trans fats and hydrogenated fats such as margarine and various butter-like spreads, as well as vegetable oils like canola and soybean oil.

Healthy fats support your mitochondria, a topic addressed more thoroughly in my book "Fat for Fuel." Healthy fats to add to your daily diet include:

Animal-based omega-3s, such as those found in krill oil and small fatty fish like anchovies and sardines

Avocados

Butter made from raw, grass fed, organic milk

Coconuts and coconut oil

Ghee (clarified butter)

Grass fed meats and pastured poultry

Olives and olive oil (Avoid cooking with olive oil. Use it cold.)

Organic pastured egg yolks

Raw cacao butter

Raw dairy

Raw nuts, such as macadamias and pecans

Seeds like black sesame, cumin, hemp and pumpkin

• Avoid gluten and casein. The main items to forgo in this category are wheat and pasteurized dairy, but not dairy fat such as butter. Research shows your blood-brain barrier is negatively affected by gluten. Gluten also makes your gut more permeable. This allows proteins to get into your bloodstream where they promote autoimmunity and inflammation, both of which play a role in the development of Alzheimer's.

• Optimize your gut flora. You can strengthen your gut microbiome not only by abstaining from processed foods, but also by avoiding antibacterial products, antibiotics and fluoridated water. You can fortify your gut by regularly eating cultured and fermented foods, or using a high-quality probiotic. My 2015 interview with Dr. David Perlmutter explores the compelling connection between your gut microbes and brain health, relating it to neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's.

7. Keep Your Mind Active

Keeping your mind active and mentally stimulated has been shown to be an effective antidote for resisting cognitive decline, especially as you age. Challenging yourself with mental exercise is believed to activate processes in your brain that keep your brain cells alive, support the growth of new nerve cells and foster communication among your nerve cells.

If you frequently watch TV and think of it as a form of mental stimulation, you need to know it is actually associated with mental decline.16 A few of the beneficial activities you can do — at any age — to keep your mind active include:17

Learn something new, such as a second language or musical instrument

Play board games, cards or online games (choosing games that foster social connection will further boost your brain health)

Read and write on a regular basis

Solve crossword, number or other kinds of puzzles; assemble physical puzzles

Take a class online or at your local library or community college

8. Eliminate Toxins

You can help your brain by eliminating toxins that have been shown to negatively affect it (and the rest of your body). A few of the toxins you should avoid are:

• Aluminum: Aluminum can cross your blood-brain barrier and has been directly linked to Alzheimer's. Sources of aluminum include antiperspirants, nonstick cookware and vaccine adjuvants. Learn more about how to detox aluminum.

• Dental amalgam fillings: Dental amalgam fillings, which are 50 percent mercury by weight, are a major source of heavy-metal toxicity. If you have amalgams and are in reasonably good health, review my mercury detox protocol and enlist the services of a biological dentist to remove them.

• Flu vaccinations: No matter what you have been told about its effectiveness and importance, carefully consider the risks before getting the flu vaccine. Many flu vaccines contain both aluminum and mercury, which are considerably more damaging to your health than the illness itself. Studies have also repeatedly shown the flu vaccine rarely works.

• Statins and anticholinergic drugs: Statin drugs are problematic because they suppress the synthesis of cholesterol and deplete your brain of coenzyme Q10, vitamin K2 and neurotransmitter precursors. Drugs that block acetylcholine, a nervous system neurotransmitter, have been shown to contribute to memory loss in some individuals.18,19 These drugs include certain antidepressants, antihistamines, bladder-control medications, narcotic pain relievers and sleep aids.

• Microwave radiation from cellphones and other wireless technologies. Last year, Dr. Martin Pall published a scientific review20 showing how microwave radiation from cell phones, Wi-Fi routers and computers and tablets not in airplane mode is clearly associated with many neuropsychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer's.

Microwaves emitted from devices such as these increase intracellular calcium through voltage gated calcium channels (VGCCs), and one of the tissues with the highest density of VGCCs is your brain. Once these VGCCs are stimulated they trigger the release of neurotransmitters, neuroendocrine hormones and highly damaging reactive oxygen species, significantly raising your risk for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

Based on this mechanism, it seems clear that chronic exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) can play a significant role in dementia and that as a society, we need to take this very seriously. On a personal level, be sure to limit your exposure to wireless technology. Simple measures include turning your Wi-Fi off at night, not carrying your cellphone on your body and not keeping portable phones, cellphones and other electric devices in your bedroom.

9. Meditate

Meditation helps you take a deliberate break from the stream of thoughts constantly flowing in and out of your mind. Some people use it to promote spiritual growth or find inner peace, while others use it as a powerful relaxation and stress-reduction tool. A 2012 study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience asserts meditation can have a long-term effect on your mental state because it prompts changes in your amygdala, a region of your brain associated with processing emotion. The authors stated:21

"[Eight] weeks of training in … meditation yielded distinct changes in amygdala activation … This finding suggests that meditation training may affect emotional processing in everyday life, and not just during meditation. This is consistent with the hypothesis that … meditative states … can result in enduring changes in mental function."

Research from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine also supports the notion of meditation as a form of "mental exercise" that can help regulate your attention and emotions and improve your well-being.22

10. Be Optimistic

A study published in Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience23 suggests healthy adults who have a larger orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) tend to be more optimistic and have less anxiety. Your OFC is a region of your brain located in your prefrontal cortex just behind your eyes — it plays a key role in regulating your emotions and behavior through the integration of intellectual and emotional information.

Researchers believe the size of your OFC appears to predict your tendency toward either anxiety or optimism. According to Psychology Today,24 the study:

"[S]hows that optimism may ultimately protect [you] from anxiety by stimulating changes in the OFC. It appears that [you] can create an upward spiral by altering the gray matter volume of the OFC. In future studies, [researchers] plan to test whether optimism can be increased and anxiety reduced by training people in tasks that engage the OFC, or by finding ways to boost optimism directly."

Lead researcher Florin Dolcos, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois, believes cultivating optimistic thoughts can have a lasting effect on your brain. He said, "If you can train people's responses, the theory is that over longer periods, their ability to control their responses on a moment-by-moment basis will eventually be embedded in their brain structure."25

Even One Change Can Make a Big Difference in Your Brain Health

Dementia and Alzheimer's have become so common that you may be unconsciously accepting these conditions as a natural part of aging, unfortunate family genes or both. The truth is, you can positively influence your brain. The actions I suggested above will help ensure your mind remains sharp and resilient for many years to come.

I encourage you to choose one of the suggestions and begin acting on it today. Making just one change can make a big difference in your brain health. Take care of your brain and it will take care of you.

from HealthyLife via Jake Glover on Inoreader https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/03/01/daily-activities-for-brain-health.aspx

[sherristockman]

10 Things to Do Daily to Help Your Brain Dr. Mercola By Dr. Mercola Even though your brain affects everything you do, you probably don't give it — literally — much thought. Clever pun aside, how often do you actually consider what your brain may need to stay healthy? Given the fact your brain impacts all aspects of your life — from happiness and health, to relationships and rest — it's important you understand how to take care of it. While aging and genes have some effect, they may not have the final word about the fate of your brain. Your brain's lifelong neuroplasticity enables you to have continual influence over its health based on how you eat, sleep, exercise, express yourself, manage stress and more. The actions, attitudes and thoughts you have today, as well as the daily lifestyle choices you make, all play a meaningful role in your brain's health. With more than 5 million Americans currently living with Alzheimer's disease and as many as 16 million expected to suffer with it by 2050,1 brain care is not a subject you can afford to ignore. Start today by reviewing the following 10 actions you can take daily to positively impact the health of your brain.2 1. Get Proper Sleep About 1 in 3 Americans gets less than seven hours of sleep a night, and an estimated 83.6 million adults in the U.S. are sleep-deprived.3,4 You may be suffering from sleep deprivation if you work the night shift, have a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea or spend a lot of time in front of electronic gadgets at night. Particularly if your habit is to sleep five or fewer hours a night, you may be putting yourself at risk of cognitive decline and memory issues that will only accelerate as you age. Dr. Paul Mathew, neurologist and assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, underscores the value of sleep to your overall health and well-being. He says:5 "Sleep is a critically important component of human existence. On average, humans spend about 25 to 35 percent of their lives sleeping. Sleep allows both the body and brain to rest and recover from the stress of daily life. As such, trouble sleeping can cause a range of health problems, and, if left untreated, dire consequences. Even if sleep duration is good, sleep quality can be quite poor. People who wake up many times during the night can have some nights with zero hours of deep, restful sleep. Poor sleep quantity and/or quality can cause excessive daytime drowsiness … chronic fatigue, headaches, mood issues, irritability, poor memory and cognitive dysfunction." The National Sleep Foundation offers three tips to support your body's need for quality sleep:6 Vary your wake-up time on the weekends no more than an hour from your weekday schedule to better support a consistent sleep-wake schedule, also known as your body's circadian rhythm Take a 20-to-30-minute nap on weekend afternoons, ideally between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Keep your naps on the shorter side to avoid feeling groggy or cranky after them, and especially to prevent feeling too awake at bedtime Whatever your approach, research suggests adults need right around eight hours of sleep a night. The sleep needs of seniors, young adults, teenagers and children vary. If you are not sure how much sleep you should be getting, review the sleep needs according to your age. Using a wearable fitness tracker at night may help you gain more insight into your sleep patterns. 2. Train Your Unconscious Mind According to the documentary "Automatic Brain: The Magic of the Unconscious Mind," your subconscious mind manages about 90 percent of everything you do whether you are asleep or awake. You may be surprised to learn your conscious mind plays only a minor role in guiding your life. In reality, most of what you think, say and do every day is a function of your "automatic," or unconscious brain (also known as your subconscious). Without you fully realizing it, your brain essentially is running your life on autopilot. Because your subconscious plays such a big role, you will benefit from a better understanding of it, which will help you leverage it to your full advantage. Writing in Psychology Today, Matt James, Ph.D., president of The Empowerment Partnership and master trainer of neuro linguistic programming, assigns several qualities to your unconscious brain. Among them, states James, your unconscious brain:7 • Acts like a young child: Similar to a young child, your unconscious mind needs clear, detailed directions and lots of reminders. It takes instructions literally, so be sure to give it specific (and positive) guidance. • Communicates through emotion and symbols: To get your attention quickly, your unconscious mind uses feelings, imagery and symbols. It's your job to discern what they mean. • Deals with positives only: Negative words like "don't," "no" or "not" are largely ignored by your unconscious mind. For this reason, it is better to say, "I am going to improve my health by avoiding smoking" as opposed to "I don't want to smoke." You can also use creative imaging to center your mind on positive thoughts. Because your unconscious mind has a pervasive influence on your life, you can actively harness its power and direct its influence in positive, life-giving ways by:8 • Expressing yourself artistically: Artistic endeavors such as coloring, drawing or painting make use of your subconscious by allowing your creativity to surface and making space for the expression of your true feelings. Because the goal is to tap into your unconscious mind, you don't need to be a great artist, just open to the creative process. • Rehearsing desired outcomes: A great way to program a new activity, skill or thought into your unconscious mind is to rehearse it and repeat it until it takes root. Similar to the countless songs and jingles lodged in your subconscious, you can rehearse new attitudes, ideas, outcomes and thoughts that you want to become reality. By frequently repeating out loud what you want, you aid your subconscious mind in catching on and helping you achieve your desired outcomes. • Reviewing before bed: A great way to learn new material, such as exam material, goals, presentations or speeches, is to review it right before you go to sleep. Doing so helps transfer the content to your subconscious, putting it at the forefront of your mind as you drift off to sleep, and potentially influencing the content of your dreams. 3. Focus on One Task at a Time Multitasking is perceived to be more efficient than a single-minded focus, but you'll feel calmer and more relaxed if you choose to focus on one task at a time. Think about the last time you tried to talk on the phone with a friend while cooking supper or checking your email. I bet you missed much of what your friend was saying because your brain was trying to split time between two very different activities. Research conducted by Stanford University suggests multitasking reduces your efficiency because your brain can only do one thing well at a time. The study authors said: "People who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time."9,10 So, give your brain a break and put your focus exclusively on the one task or person at hand. You may be surprised at the results. 4. Exercise Regularly If you exercise regularly, you not only will have a healthier body, but a better brain, too. Regardless of your age, exercise can provide enormous benefits for your body and your mind. If you're over 40, it's especially important to step up your exercise program because your physical strength, stamina, balance and flexibility are beginning to decline due to age. Fortunately, doing the right type of exercise can help you counteract these declines. To achieve optimal benefits, you'll want to establish a comprehensive exercise program that includes high-intensity exercises, strength training, core exercises and stretching. I also urge you to consider walking, in addition to your regular workout regimen, aiming for 10,000 to 15,000 steps per day. Avoid sitting as much as possible — limiting your sitting to three hours a day or less. Prolonged sitting is a risk factor for chronic disease and early death — even if you are very fit and exercise regularly. In terms of the effect exercise has on your brain, scientists have suggested it can trigger a change in the way your amyloid precursor protein is metabolized, thereby slowing down the onset and progression of Alzheimer's.11 Exercise also increases your levels of the protein PGC-1alpha. Research has shown people with Alzheimer's have less PGC-1alpha in their brains. A meta-analysis of 19 research studies published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine12 suggests exercise has strong, positive effects on the brains of individuals ages 6 to 35. The study authors said, "acute physical exercise enhances executive functioning" in preadolescent children, adolescents and young adults. 5. Write Down Your Thoughts The prevalence of computers, smartphones and tablets, as well as the diminished emphasis on handwriting means communication involving pen and paper is becoming less common. As such, technology is causing us to miss out on the brain benefits of writing. For example, research suggests writing things by hand helps you better internalize information and ensures you retain it.13,14 The study authors stated:15 "[E]ven when laptops are used solely to take notes, they may still be impairing learning because their use results in shallower processing. In three studies, we found that students who took notes on laptops performed worse on conceptual questions than students who took notes longhand. We show … laptop note takers' tendency to transcribe lectures verbatim, rather than processing information and reframing it in their own words, is detrimental to learning." In addition, getting your thoughts down on paper can help you remove "mind clutter," especially before going to bed. If you are feeling highly stressed and anticipate not sleeping well as a result, make time to write out your thoughts before going to bed. Simply take out a pad of paper and a pen, set a timer for five to 10 minutes and begin writing whatever comes to mind. Avoid editing yourself and write literally anything and everything that comes to mind. When left unchecked, lingering negative feelings and the emotional stress accompanying them can wreak havoc on your brain health. This is true even if you are doing everything else — diet, exercise and sleep, for instance — "right." Over time, as you stick with this habit — ideally as a weekly or even daily activity — your brain will connect with your subconscious, uncovering and surfacing valuable insights and thoughts of which you had previously been unaware. If you are not sure how to address the issues and concerns that surface as you write them on paper, you might try the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). It is a handy tool that involves light tapping over the major energy meridians of your body. EFT is quick and painless, and you can use it as often as you need to unload emotional baggage. 6. Eat a Healthy Diet The following dietary recommendations are vital for maintaining brain health and staving off Alzheimer's: • Eat real food, ideally organic. Be sure to choose organic grass fed meats and animal products. Research has shown vegetables to be particularly beneficial for slowing age-related cognitive decline due to the antioxidants they contain. Avoid processed foods of all kinds because they contain items known to be harmful to your brain, such as refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, glutinous grains, genetically engineered ingredients and pesticides. • Replace refined carbohydrates with healthy fats. Contrary to what most people think, your brain does not need carbohydrates and sugars for fuel. What it does need is healthy fats, such as saturated animal fats and animal-based omega-3s, which are far more important for optimal brain function. Avoid all trans fats and hydrogenated fats such as margarine and various butter-like spreads, as well as vegetable oils like canola and soybean oil. Healthy fats support your mitochondria, a topic addressed more thoroughly in my book "Fat for Fuel." Healthy fats to add to your daily diet include: Animal-based omega-3s, such as those found in krill oil and small fatty fish like anchovies and sardines Avocados Butter made from raw, grass fed, organic milk Coconuts and coconut oil Ghee (clarified butter) Grass fed meats and pastured poultry Olives and olive oil (Avoid cooking with olive oil. Use it cold.) Organic pastured egg yolks Raw cacao butter Raw dairy Raw nuts, such as macadamias and pecans Seeds like black sesame, cumin, hemp and pumpkin • Avoid gluten and casein. The main items to forgo in this category are wheat and pasteurized dairy, but not dairy fat such as butter. Research shows your blood-brain barrier is negatively affected by gluten. Gluten also makes your gut more permeable. This allows proteins to get into your bloodstream where they promote autoimmunity and inflammation, both of which play a role in the development of Alzheimer's. • Optimize your gut flora. You can strengthen your gut microbiome not only by abstaining from processed foods, but also by avoiding antibacterial products, antibiotics and fluoridated water. You can fortify your gut by regularly eating cultured and fermented foods, or using a high-quality probiotic. My 2015 interview with Dr. David Perlmutter explores the compelling connection between your gut microbes and brain health, relating it to neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. 7. Keep Your Mind Active Keeping your mind active and mentally stimulated has been shown to be an effective antidote for resisting cognitive decline, especially as you age. Challenging yourself with mental exercise is believed to activate processes in your brain that keep your brain cells alive, support the growth of new nerve cells and foster communication among your nerve cells. If you frequently watch TV and think of it as a form of mental stimulation, you need to know it is actually associated with mental decline.16 A few of the beneficial activities you can do — at any age — to keep your mind active include:17 Learn something new, such as a second language or musical instrument Play board games, cards or online games (choosing games that foster social connection will further boost your brain health) Read and write on a regular basis Solve crossword, number or other kinds of puzzles; assemble physical puzzles Take a class online or at your local library or community college 8. Eliminate Toxins You can help your brain by eliminating toxins that have been shown to negatively affect it (and the rest of your body). A few of the toxins you should avoid are: • Aluminum: Aluminum can cross your blood-brain barrier and has been directly linked to Alzheimer's. Sources of aluminum include antiperspirants, nonstick cookware and vaccine adjuvants. Learn more about how to detox aluminum. • Dental amalgam fillings: Dental amalgam fillings, which are 50 percent mercury by weight, are a major source of heavy-metal toxicity. If you have amalgams and are in reasonably good health, review my mercury detox protocol and enlist the services of a biological dentist to remove them. • Flu vaccinations: No matter what you have been told about its effectiveness and importance, carefully consider the risks before getting the flu vaccine. Many flu vaccines contain both aluminum and mercury, which are considerably more damaging to your health than the illness itself. Studies have also repeatedly shown the flu vaccine rarely works. • Statins and anticholinergic drugs: Statin drugs are problematic because they suppress the synthesis of cholesterol and deplete your brain of coenzyme Q10, vitamin K2 and neurotransmitter precursors. Drugs that block acetylcholine, a nervous system neurotransmitter, have been shown to contribute to memory loss in some individuals.18,19 These drugs include certain antidepressants, antihistamines, bladder-control medications, narcotic pain relievers and sleep aids. • Microwave radiation from cellphones and other wireless technologies. Last year, Dr. Martin Pall published a scientific review20 showing how microwave radiation from cell phones, Wi-Fi routers and computers and tablets not in airplane mode is clearly associated with many neuropsychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer's. Microwaves emitted from devices such as these increase intracellular calcium through voltage gated calcium channels (VGCCs), and one of the tissues with the highest density of VGCCs is your brain. Once these VGCCs are stimulated they trigger the release of neurotransmitters, neuroendocrine hormones and highly damaging reactive oxygen species, significantly raising your risk for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. Based on this mechanism, it seems clear that chronic exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) can play a significant role in dementia and that as a society, we need to take this very seriously. On a personal level, be sure to limit your exposure to wireless technology. Simple measures include turning your Wi-Fi off at night, not carrying your cellphone on your body and not keeping portable phones, cellphones and other electric devices in your bedroom. 9. Meditate Meditation helps you take a deliberate break from the stream of thoughts constantly flowing in and out of your mind. Some people use it to promote spiritual growth or find inner peace, while others use it as a powerful relaxation and stress-reduction tool. A 2012 study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience asserts meditation can have a long-term effect on your mental state because it prompts changes in your amygdala, a region of your brain associated with processing emotion. The authors stated:21 "[Eight] weeks of training in … meditation yielded distinct changes in amygdala activation … This finding suggests that meditation training may affect emotional processing in everyday life, and not just during meditation. This is consistent with the hypothesis that … meditative states … can result in enduring changes in mental function." Research from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine also supports the notion of meditation as a form of "mental exercise" that can help regulate your attention and emotions and improve your well-being.22 10. Be Optimistic A study published in Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience23 suggests healthy adults who have a larger orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) tend to be more optimistic and have less anxiety. Your OFC is a region of your brain located in your prefrontal cortex just behind your eyes — it plays a key role in regulating your emotions and behavior through the integration of intellectual and emotional information. Researchers believe the size of your OFC appears to predict your tendency toward either anxiety or optimism. According to Psychology Today,24 the study: "[S]hows that optimism may ultimately protect [you] from anxiety by stimulating changes in the OFC. It appears that [you] can create an upward spiral by altering the gray matter volume of the OFC. In future studies, [researchers] plan to test whether optimism can be increased and anxiety reduced by training people in tasks that engage the OFC, or by finding ways to boost optimism directly." Lead researcher Florin Dolcos, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois, believes cultivating optimistic thoughts can have a lasting effect on your brain. He said, "If you can train people's responses, the theory is that over longer periods, their ability to control their responses on a moment-by-moment basis will eventually be embedded in their brain structure."25 Even One Change Can Make a Big Difference in Your Brain Health Dementia and Alzheimer's have become so common that you may be unconsciously accepting these conditions as a natural part of aging, unfortunate family genes or both. The truth is, you can positively influence your brain. The actions I suggested above will help ensure your mind remains sharp and resilient for many years to come. I encourage you to choose one of the suggestions and begin acting on it today. Making just one change can make a big difference in your brain health. Take care of your brain and it will take care of you.