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Planning Ahead For Better Sleep

Plus: 3 "secret" ways to cook beans to stop gas and bloating

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The 10almonds Team
March 06, 2024

Today’s almonds have been activated by:

❝Spring is the time of plans and projects❞

(do you have yours lined up ready?)

⏰ 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:

  • Good sleep starts with good exercise early in the day—this has a bigger impact than bedtime routine

    • Allocating too much time for sleep can be counterproductive, as it usually results in lower quality sleep

    • There are 6 key ways sleep quality can be measured, and they’re all important. See today’s main feature for more on this!

  • Skincare is important, but it’s easy to not find time for it.

    • Today’s sponsor, Tiége Hanley, is offering 10almonds readers 30% off their beautifully simple skincare starter pack.

Read on to learn more about these things, or click here to visit our archive

🤫 A WORD TO THE WISE

How Long Does Back Pain Last?

And how can learning about pain increase the chance of recovery?

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

3 "Secret" Ways To Cook Beans + Stop Gas & Bloating! (9:09)

Not a well-kept secret, but knowledge like this is often regional/cultural, so it bears sharing:

Want to watch it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later 🔖

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED…

❓️ THIS OR THAT?

Vote on Which is Healthier

Yesterday, we asked you to choose between white bread and white pasta—we picked the pasta (click here to read about why), as did 70% of you!

Now for today’s choice:

Click on whichever you think is better for you!

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED…

🛌 MAIN FEATURE

Sleep: 6 Dimensions And 24 Hours!

This is Dr. Lisa Matricciani, a sleep specialist from the University of South Australia, where she teaches in the School of Health Sciences.

What does she want us to know?

Healthy sleep begins before breakfast

The perfect bedtime routine is all well and good, but we need to begin much earlier in the day, Dr. Matricciani advises.

Specifically, moderate to vigorous activity early in the day plays a big part.

Before breakfast is best, but even midday/afternoon exercise is associated with better sleep at night.

Plan your time well to sleep—but watch out!

Dr. Matricciani’s research has also found that while it’s important to plan around getting a good night’s sleep (including planning when this will happen), allocating too much time for sleep results in more restless sleep:

❝Allocating more time to sleep was associated with earlier sleep onsets, later sleep offsets, less efficient and more consistent sleep patterns for both children and adults.❞

(this was very large study involving 1,168 children and 1.360 adults, mostly women)

What counts as good sleep quality? Is it just efficiency?

It is not! Although that’s one part of it. You may remember our previous main feature:

Dr. Matricciani agrees:

❝Everyone knows that sleep is important. But when we think about sleep, we mainly focus on how many hours of sleep we get, when we should also be looking at our sleep experience as a whole❞

That’s not a cheery headline, but here’s her paper about it:

And no, we don’t get a free pass on getting less sleep / less good quality sleep as we get older (alas):

So, time to get planning for the best sleep!

Enjoy videos?

Here’s how 7News Australia broke the news of Dr. Matricciani’s more recent work:

Rest well!

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED…

❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE

A simple and effective skin care routine you’ll actually stick to.

Despite a hectic schedule, Tiege Hanley offers a guided skin care system that even the busiest of men can manage. Their Essentials routine includes everything you need for healthy and hydrated skin that lasts all day.

Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free

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📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

JoyFull: Cook Effortlessly, Eat Freely, Live Radiantly – by Radhi Devlukia-Shetty

We haven't done a recipe book in a little while, so here's a good one!

The focus of this book is getting more plants and spices into your diet, and doing it deliciously.

Healthwise, there is nothing controversial here: the recipes are all plant-based, mostly whole-foods, and the items that aren't whole foods are things like "vanilla extract".

The recipes themselves (of which there are 125) are presented clearly and simply, one to a double-page (although sometimes there will be a suggested variation on the same double-page), ideal for use in a kitchen bookstand. For each recipe, there's a clear photo of the end result, so you know what you're working towards.

The ingredients are not too obscure, and can be acquired from more or less any large supermarket.

Bottom line: if you're looking to expand your plant-based cooking repertoire in a way that's not just substitutions, then this book provides an excellent variety.

What did you think of today's newsletter?

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Wishing you a vibrant day and a restful night,

The 10almonds Team