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How Are You, Really? And How Old Is Your Heart?
Plus: take the free 10-minute NHS test to find out
The 10almonds Team
August 09, 2023
Today’s almonds have been activated by:
Loading Screen Tip: sometimes the hardest path is the most rewarding—sometimes it isn’t.
So for any given thing, ask yourself: what’s more important here? The process, or the results?
⏰ IN A RUSH?
Today’s 30-Second Summary
If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:
It’s easy to focus on some areas of health, and let other parts of health slip us by.
Today’s main feature has a free test to do an overall “wellness checkup”, and offers very personalized advice if you want to improve some area.
Your chronological age and your biological age can (and usually do) differ.
Not only that, but biological age isn’t so much one thing as it is an amalgamation of things, that can each differ from each other.
Today’s main feature also has a free test to specifically detail your heart’s biological age.
Hydration is a critical and often-neglected part of good health, and healthy habits are (by science!) best picked-up when they’re made more convenient and easy.
Today’s sponsor, Hint Water, are offering 10almonds subscribers 45% off and free shipping, on their already very reasonably-priced flavored waters and vitamin waters
They are, by the way, free from sugar and artificial sweeteners, so these are different from ones you’ve probably tried before
Read on to learn about these things and more…
👀 WATCH AND LEARN
This Happens When You Do 25 Squats Twice Daily
Should you do squats every day? How do squats help your core? Can squats help you lose weight? What happens to your body when you do squats daily?
Squat menu:
📝 MAIN FEATURE
How Are You, Really? The Free NHS Health Test
We took this surprisingly incisive 10-minute test from the UK’s famous National Health Service—the test is part of the “Better Health” programme, a free-to-all (yes, even those from/in other countries) initiative aimed at keeping people healthy enough to have less need of medical attention.
As one person who took the test wrote:
❝I didn’t expect that a government initiative would have me talking about how I need to keep myself going to be there for the people I love, let alone that a rapid-pace multiple-choice test would elicit these responses and give personalized replies in turn, but here we are❞
It goes beyond covering the usual bases, in that it also looks at what’s most important to you, and why, and what might keep you from doing the things you want/need to do for your health, AND how those obstacles can be overcome.
Pretty impressive for a 10-minute test!
How old are you, in your heart?
Poetic answers notwithstanding (this writer sometimes feels so old, and yet also much younger than she is), there’s a biological answer here, too.
Again free for the use of all*, here’s a heart age calculator.
*It is suitable for you if you are aged 30–95, and do not have a known complicating cardiovascular disease.
It will ask you your (UK) postcode; just leave that field blank if you’re not in the UK; it’ll be fine.
(Neither test requires logging into anything, and they do not ask for your email address. The tests are right there on the page, and they give the answers right there on the page, immediately)
❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE
No sugar, no sweeteners, just hydration bursting with fruit flavors
Hydration is a critical and often-neglected part of good health, so this is one where convenience really pays and keeps your body and brain nourished.
Hint Water specialize in flavored water infused with fruit essences. By using purified water and natural fruit essences, Hint Water provides surprisingly accurate fruit flavors—not the “sickly sweet with a strange aftertaste” flavored waters you might otherwise know.
Best of all, they offer 8 delicious flavors to choose from, and have a “Hint+vitamin” range too.
Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free
🌎 AROUND THE WEB
What’s happening in the health world…
Sweet-spot brain stimulation may halt Parkinson's progression
Rheumatoid arthritis tied to higher risk for aortic stenosis
Aerobic exercise cuts chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy symptoms
Counting the wrong sheep: why trouble sleeping is about more than just individual lifestyles and habits
What is the best clothing to keep you cool in a heatwave?
New drug shows promise for treating chronic neuropathic pain
Child-friendly HIV drug could improve treatment outcomes
More to come tomorrow!
📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW
The Seven-Day Sleep Prescription: Seven Days To Unlocking Your Best Rest – by Dr. Aric Prather
You probably already know about sleep hygiene. So, what does this book have to offer?
Dr. Aric Prather offers seven days' worth of adjustments, practices to take up, from when you get up in the morning to when you lay your head down at night.
Some you'll surely be familiar with, like avoiding blue light and social media at night.
Others, you might not be familiar with, like scheduling 15 minutes for worrying in the daytime. The rationale for this one is that when you find yourself inclined to worry at a time that will keep you awake, you'll know that you can put off such thoughts to your scheduled "worrying time". That they'll be addressed then, and that you can thus sleep soundly meanwhile.
Where the book really comes into its own is in such things as discussing how to not just manage sleep debt, but how to actually use it in your favour.
Nor does Dr. Prather shy away from the truths of our world... That the world these days is not built for us to sleep well. That there are so many other priorities; to get our work done, to succeed and achieve, to pay bills, to support our kids and partners. That so many of these things make plenty of sense in the moment, but catch up with us eventually.
Bottom line: what this book aims to give is a genuinely sustainable approach to sleeping—controlling what we can, and working with what we can't. If you'd like to have a better relationship with sleep, this book is an excellent choice.
What did you think of today's newsletter?We always love to hear from you, whether you leave us a comment or even just a click in the poll if you're speeding by! |
May you always be young at heart, no matter how wise with age,
The 10almonds Team