Good morning đ
âYour life, in the end, is the sum total of how you spent your time.â
~ Dr. ChĂŠrie Carter-Scott
In todayâs email we cover pelvic floor troubles & body fat distribution, how to get unstuck, and holistic health.
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Todayâs Main Feature
Body Fat & Pelvic Floor Problems: What Matters Most Is *Where* The Fat Is
âŚand for once, the main problem is not waist circumference:
Recommended Reading
Will You Trust Them With Your Life?
When it comes to health information, who should you trust? Here are 4 ways to spot a dodgy âexpertâ:
Are Squats The Ultimate Game-Changer?
Dr. Jess Grochowsky, PT, DPT, MTC, CLT, CMPTP, says the answer is yes, and hereâs why:
Watch and Learn
How To Get Unstuck
At 10almonds we sometimes say âmental health is also simply healthâ, and in this video, we get an examination of how oneâs state of mind affects physical health and life in generalâfor better or for worseâand how to shift out of the wrong mental gear and into a better one:
Prefer text? The above video will take you to a 10almonds page with a text overview, as well as the video!
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This Or That?
Vote on Which is Healthier
Previously we asked you to choose between bamboo shoots and cucumberâwe picked the bamboo shoots (click here to read about why), as did 41% of you!
Now for todayâs choice:
Click on whichever you think is better for you!
One-Minute Book Review
Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself â by Dr. Lissa Rankin
Some background first: the author, a medical doctor, suffered a breakdown as a result of a series of life experiences (an understatement that doesnât do it justice; her story is very moving; this reviewer cried while reading) and, in her short-term quest to merely survive and rebuild her life, she found a better way to help others, too. Which, like many doctors, was what she wanted to do in the first place, of courseâalas that the modern medical industry all-too-often not only works doctors to the bone, but also creates conditions whereby they cannot possible treat patients with an appropriate level of care.
The primary premise of the book is that broadly speaking, healing (of tangible, physical maladies) can come primarily, if not entirely, from within.
It doesnât mean youâll never need medicine or surgery, but it does mean that if youâre not creating the right internal conditions for those things to workâor worse, if you are actively creating adverse internal conditions for those things to workâyou are sabotaging your own health.
This is for the most part not, by the way, about âeat some plants and do some exercise and get some sleep and donât smoke or drinkâ. Rather: yes, those things too, but itâs not the focus here.
The focus instead is⌠Well, letâs outline the six steps of her method:
Believe that healing is possible (maximize placebo effect, reduce nocebo effect)
Let your âinner pilot lightâ guide you (this sounds mystical, but itâs mostly about how we typically have an intuitive grasp of what is wrong with our life that is creating a barrier to health, and if we listen to that, we can set about improving things)
Surround yourself with appropriate support (always sensible)
Diagnose the root causes of your illness (i.e. beyond the obvious; thereâs a reason she says âcausesâ and not âcauseâ. Because yes, infection, yes, inflammation, yes, a bad diet, etc, but also things like stress, trauma, overwork, and so forth)
Write the prescription for yourself (i.e. be fully on board with the treatment that you are pursuing, and this also includes not just âI agree this medication/surgery is whatâs best for meâ, but also âsocial prescribingâ, non-drug things to improve oneâs holistic wellbeing, say for example âa walk in the park each morningâor âMarie Kondo my living spaceâ or âget a divorceâ âfind new purpose by volunteering for a worthy causeâ or âtake up swimmingâ etc)
Treat your fears and resistance (in other words, troubleshoot all the aforementioned things if you think âthat sounds good, but first I need to procrastinateâ)
The style is mostly very personal, light pop science, but Dr. Rankin has also backed up what she recommends with a wealth of science. Indeed, the early parts of her own journey were full of thinking âthis is probably so, but I canât find the evidence to back it up; all I have is anecdotes and confirmation bias; I need to do better than thatâ and then a rigorous process of research that show her to be a very respectable academic, in addition to being a very human healer.
We donât normally reference other peopleâs reviews, but in this case we think itâs worth mentioning that this book has also been reviewed very favorably by such well-respected figures as Dr. Gabor MatĂŠ (author of the excellent When The Body Says No, amongst many other things) and less famously but also highly relevant, Dr. Kelly Turner (author of Radical Remission, which we also gave a glowing review a little while back).
Bottom line: you know what, we have no reservations of any kind about this book. Itâs good science, very accessible, potentially life-changing, an engaging read, and applicable to literally everyone who is alive.
Penny For Your Thoughts?
What did you think of today's newsletter?
Wishing you the very best of health every day, in every way,
The 10almonds Team
