Strategic Mindset & Grit – try, try, try again, but a little bit better each time.

Strategic Mindset – thinking critically about goals and outcomes, and whether methods are working or need to be modified. (1)

Grit – sticking with a tough problem or a long complex job. (1)

Having grit without a strategic mindset might leave you eventually all tired out but not at the goal you might have hoped for. Keep trying, but check the progress and redirect the craft as needed to get you to where you want to go. Trying to row a boat across a rapid river requires rowing slightly upstream against the current or you will just be pushed downstream. (1)

Our choices can make us healthier, wealthier, wiser, more productive, and feeling better about ourselves. Or they may lead to chronic illness and feeling unproductive, tired and listless, and it might seem difficult to go to work or look for a job, or to study for that important test or new job skill.

Support can help us stick with the difficult choices and tasks, or or negative, lack of support, may make us give up or feel like we can’t accomplish our goal. If someone is consistently negative to you, let it go, that is them, your choices are you. This also may mean letting go of well meaning advice that was intended positively, yet doesn’t match your goals, or you already had learned the suggestion didn’t work for you.

“Don’t try to win over those who ridicule, mock or hate. You’re not called to be the jackass whisperer.” -Scott Stratten

Health or lifestyle habits can be generally helpful for most, but we are individuals and health habits may not all be as helpful for each of us in the same way. Tuning into our own needs can help us learn what seems to lead to feeling energetic and happy and what tends to add to the tired and listless, or headachy and irritable.

“Our self-respect tracks our choices. Every time we act in harmony with our authentic self and our heart, we earn our respect. It is that simple. Every choice matters.” – Dan Coppersmith

Sometimes the grit might be needed to wade through the deluge of information available to us in our modern virtually connected world, to find the nuggets that will be of most value for our own needs. The information in a book can help you plan a strategy that might get you to your goal, it won’t get you there while it stays in the book though. You have to try the techniques, and practice and modify the strategy, refining it as needed until it is effectively helping you to reach your desired goal.

“Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience. You need experience to gain wisdom.” ~ Albert Einstein
“We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.” – John Naisbitt
“There seems to be an inherent eagerness of this next-gen workforce to avoid starting from scratch, but to seek out the best of what exists and build upon it. This may be a condition of pressure put on them earlier in their career to produce results and solutions at a more rapid pace than has ever been expected before. Companies would be wise to harness this energy and, through technology, give them better and more instant access to those building blocks. ” – KeySafety (thinkkeysafety.com)

Nutrition science – we need all the building blocks to build health, enough of each in balance with the others to support a stable structure.

Experience knows how to create a stable structure from the rudimentary knowledge.
(Image found online, original source unknown, via @ProfFeynman .)

Practice makes perfect it is said, but not if what you are practicing is not a good technique for you, or in general.

“In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.“ -Yogi Berra (via @nonludic)

Knowledge is collected from Experience that is shared by others or that you had learned first hand by trying something, whether once or with ongoing practice until the skill was mastered. Creativity can take that information and imagine new ways to look at it, and Wisdom may see connections that others didn’t see.

**Knowledge** is collected from **Experience** shared by others or learned first hand.
**Creativity** can take that information and imagine new ways to look at it,
and **Wisdom** may see connections that others didn’t see.
(Graphic found online, original source unknown, via @ThinkingWiseman.)

What creativity and collective wisdom did it take the ancient people who created Stonehenge as a giant astronomical calendar to get the circle of stones in alignment with the passing stars? That is hard to imagine, or how the giant stone blocks were cut and moved by hand.

“*Sunrise at Stonehenge today (17th January) was at 8.02am, sunset is at 4.32pm*, “
Image by Stonehenge, U.K., @STONEHENGE.

In building anything we need perseverance, grit, to stick with the hard work that might take years or decades to accomplish. To build effectively we need to have a strategic mindset with a plan that may be adapted along the way as methods are tested and analyzed for whether the goal is being achieved. Did the planets and stars move across the skies at the time the stone circle indicated or was modification in their placement needed? Stonehenge was initially likely a circle of smaller bluestones before all the large stones were moved from much farther away and put in place. It would have been arduous work. You wouldn’t want to have to move one of those building blocks again if you goofed.

“The oldest part of the Stonehenge monument was built during the period from 3000 to 2935 bce. … Although it once was believed that the Aubrey Holes served as pits for wooden posts, excavation and archival research by the Stonehenge Riverside Project revealed that they probably held Welsh bluestones.” – Stonehenge- First stage: 3000–2935 BCE (Britannica)

The first stage of building Stonehenge took the ancient people about 65 years, the second stage about 160 years, third, about 190 years, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth stages of building are estimated to have been completed over another 760 years. That is quite a dedicated community project. (Britannica)

The reason why Stonehenge was built is not known, however having a calendar, even a really, really large one, may have helped with determining when to plant crops to maximize yield. There was a change in climate conditions for about 700 years during the time Stonehenge was built which made growing crops more difficult and herd animals became more predominant until the cold weather improved. (sciencenewsforstudents)

To build health we need all of the nutrient building blocks and it can be helpful to have phytonutrients and other complex molecules in our diet too. Nucleotides are needed to make the RNA that is needed for us to make each protein molecule such as bitter taste receptors. We may be able to make nucleotides but there would also be some in animal product foods. It saves us energy to use ready made molecules that are small enough to be absorbed whole. Colorful plants and vegetables have many phytonutrients and phospho-nutrients that can help us directly or may be used as building blocks to help us build other molecules.

Studies on cognitive health, our mental fitness as we age, have found that the modern Western diet has adverse effects while a more Mediterranean style diet was more protective. People whose diet was estimated to be the most like the Mediterranean diet, had cognitive health equivalent to being 5.8 years younger than those with the least Mediterranean style diet.

“Western diets may adversely affect cognitive health,” Agarwal said. “Individuals who had a high Mediterranean diet score compared to those who had the lowest score were equivalent to being 5.8 years younger in age cognitively.” – Unhealthy Foods May Diminish Diet’s Positive Effects, January 8, 2021, Rush.edu, (rush.edu)

The Mediterranean Diet has anti-inflammatory benefits from the olive oil, which is rich in monounsaturated fats, and the diet tends to include a generous amount of fish and other seafoods regularly which would be a good source of omega 3 fatty acids. The Western diet uses a lot of plant/seed oils which are high in polyunsaturated fats and omega 6 fatty acids both of which can increase inflammation when eaten in excess. The ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids is too low in the modern diet due to the use of refined plant oils like canola seed, corn or soy oil.

The Mediterranean diet also tends to have more beans, with smaller servings or less use of meats, than the Western diet. The phytonutrient rich herbs like oregano and basil might be used in far greater quantity along with other healthy vegetables and fruits than in the standard Western diet.

Another study looked at the effects of different diet patterns on the muscle mass of a group of Australian women. Interestingly The ‘plant focused‘ diet was not associated with skeletal muscle size while a traditional diet based on the Australian Recommended Food pattern was linked to muscle mass and an overall use of fewer inflammatory food and beverage choices was also. People on the ‘plant focused‘ diet may not have been getting enough protein or other nutrients involved in our production of muscle tissue.

“Three a posteriori dietary patterns were identified from the PCA and named: i) plant-focused, ii) western, and iii) traditional. The plant-focused pattern was characterised by positive factor loadings on fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, nuts, rice, tofu, yogurt, red wine, and eggs, and negative loadings on white bread. The western pattern included positive factor loadings on pizza, potato chips, processed meats (sausage, meat pies, salami, bacon), tomato sauce and pasta, and negative loadings on fruits. The traditional pattern was characterised by positive loadings on vegetables, jam, tinned fruit, red meat (beef and lamb), biscuits, ice cream, fish, and high-fibre cereals, with no negative loadings (Jacka et al., 2010).” – Diet quality and a traditional dietary pattern predict lean mass in Australian women: Longitudinal data from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study (Davis et al, 2021)

It takes knowledge to know which foods are more beneficial or less inflammatory, and it takes experience to try them and find out if they are also not inflammatory for your personal metabolism and health. It takes creativity to prepare interesting meals from a wide range of healthy foods, and wisdom to see the long term value in going to the effort to do so, most days. It also takes wisdom or strategic mindset to watch for patterns in your symptoms and health and modify your choices as you age or your health changes.

Every decade our metabolism slows down a little so we need about 10% less calories than we did in the previous decade – this would vary somewhat with the amount of physical and mental effort we expend and our personal thyroid hormone level and other factors.

Disclaimer: Opinions are my own and the information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes.

Reference List

The Mindset You Need to Succeed at Every Goal. bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200722-the-mindset-you-need-to-succeed-at-every-goal?ocid=ww.social.link.twitter
Unhealthy Foods May Diminish Diet’s Positive Effects, January 8, 2021, Rush.edu, (rush.edu) https://www.rush.edu/news/unhealthy-foods-may-diminish-diets-positive-effects
Jessica A. Davis, Mohammadreza Mohebbi. Fiona Collier, et al., Diet quality and a traditional dietary pattern predict lean mass in Australian women: Longitudinal data from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study. Preventive Medicine Reports, Vol 21, March 2021, 101316, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335521000073

June 1, 2018

Habits save energy, will power uses energy

In a previous post recently I briefly discussed habits and working towards change. Three weeks to build a habit is an educational message – translational research – that has been shown to be inaccurate. Newer research suggests that two months may be more realistic – an average of 66 days.

I haven’t read the original research for either recommendation however a discussion of how habits can save energy while the use of will power actually seems to deplete our energy, and can lead to less ability to stick to a plan and act impulsively, is available here: Strengthen Your Willpower by Creating New Habits, by Isaiah Hankel, Ph.D. (https://www.isaiahhankel.com/strengthen-your-willpower-by-creating-new-habits)

/Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes. Thanks./

May 29, 2018May 31, 2018

Translational Research – translating research into patient guidance

“The answer is 17 years, what is the question: understanding time lags in translational research” – Morris, et al, 2011 (1)

It takes far too long for research findings to be ‘translated’ into health messages or techniques that reach the patient in need of health care guidance – 17 years on average according to the review of research study by Morris et al (2011). The team’s conclusion is that translational research is in need of further study but with more well defined terms and types of measurements so research by different teams can be compared. Twenty three studies were reviewed but the research parameters were diverse and not readily comparable. (1)

As a person with training and experience as a health care professional I followed general recommendations for general health and weight loss for many years but they didn’t help and I kept getting more sick with problems that didn’t show up on lab tests. Being told regularly that my symptoms must therefore be psychosomatic (mentally based) and that I should see a talk therapist did lead me to spending time with talk therapists and it helped somewhat but I kept getting more sick.

I knew I was physically sick, not just mentally making myself sick from stress or anxiety because I wasn’t always stressed or anxious and had always had some minor but chronic health problems as a child. So I eventually gave up on the standard not-helping-much answers and instead paid closer attention to my daily routine and dietary choices and slowly stopped doing any of the things that seemed to make me feel worse the next day. With the pay attention method I got somewhat better. Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue symptoms were improved. Iodine supplements helped me with weight loss and a low dose antibiotic protocol developed for an autoimmune type of condition helped relieve my severe migraine problem.

Prescriptions can be quick and easy answers but they don’t always work, sometimes makes things worse, can delay trying other strategies that might work better – and can be expensive in insurance co-pays or be an out of pocket self pay expense. Health needs adequate sleep, with black out curtains and no lights, not even a digital alarm clock – keep it in a bedside table drawer or cover it with a towel. Even a little light at night can interfere with our production of melatonin and it helps with a variety of health needs throughout the body.

Health requires regular stretching and exercise that works out the heart and lungs and builds the other muscles somewhat. To maintain bone density requires weight bearing exercise – lifting weights in a warehouse or digging in a garden or in a gymnasium. Having the freedom to read text documents on your laptop while standing and using hand weights can multitask physical fitness needs with work or school needs. Varying positions and going for short walks occasionally is healthier than any type of job that requires too much of the same motions or having to stay in the same position for long periods of time.

Standing desks that can easily transition to a sitting desk can be as simple as a couple boxes under your laptop. Standing can allow some leg and arm stretches and then the boxes can be removed for some time spent sitting to type more intensively. Eight full hours in either position might be more of a health risk than being able to switch between the two options. (2)

Health requires all of the nutrients and additional fiber and antioxidants and other phytonutrients that aren’t considered essential in the same way vitamins are but may be necessary for more optimal health.

If it is reasonable to want to prevent measles or chickenpox, or other infectious diseases, then it seems reasonable to want to prevent age related degenerative disease by providing the body more of what it needs to remove toxins and rebuild tissue as it wears out. Even brain cells are replaced with new ones – our entire body is not the same body that we had as a newborn. We are regularly removing old cells and growing new ones.

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered. The point is to discover them. ~ Galileo

And the point of translational research is to improve the process of translating research findings into effective strategies for patient care. If research is still in early stages it may not be safe for all patients, finding out how to identify which patients it might help would then be a necessary step before translating the findings into patient education messages or health care protocols. How to guides ideally will always include safety warnings about which patients the health messages might harm if they were to use or be ineffective for their use.

As an individual it is good to know your rights as a patient and to seek health care professionals that take the time to listen. As a patient seeking a second opinion may be helpful and it can be helpful to write down your symptoms and mood changes, your daily diet or sleep habits, and any other routine habits in order to look back occasionally to see if any patterns show up in what is helping or not helping you feel better. We all need to remember that we are the ones living our lives and that makes us the ones in charge of taking care of our own health as best as we can.

It can take three weeks or more to build a habit and that suggests the reverse is likely true – and keeping a written tally sheet about the habit you want to change can help stay on track and help show where you may be veering off track. For more guidance, see Changing Habits, The Learning Center, University of North Carolina. (3)

Your Health Insurance agent is not your mother (probably), and in the current system large bills can lead to more profit for health insurance companies – so watch out for your own budget by taking care of exercise, diet, and sleep habits and send your Health Insurance agent a nice card at the holidays instead of having them on speed dial for questions about your enormous co-pays. Insurance is nice but 10 or 20% of an enormous bill is still more than most of us have in the bank or can easily borrow. (4)

Bankruptcy due to health care costs has become too common – stay out of bankruptcy court by spending more time on daily health care habits – the research is fairly conclusive regarding the basics –

ideally at least 30-60 minutes of exercise 3-5 times per week,
drink plenty of water for thirst
and eat 5-9 servings of vegetables/whole fruit per day, get adequate protein, whole grains and essential omega 3 fatty acids without too much saturated and trans fats each day. Trying to include a serving of fatty fish three times per week can be a source of omega 3 fatty acids or vegetarian sources include walnuts, hemp seed kernels or ground flax seeds. Including a serving of beans, nuts and seeds on most days may increase the amount of magnesium and other important trace nutrients in the daily/weekly diet.
Six hours of sleep seems to be a minimum need for most people and more than eight hours on a regular basis may be too much or a sign of health or depression problems in adults once they are out of the teen years, (teens may benefit from ten hours of sleep per day, (6)). Short naps during the day can be a healthful activity and may increase work productivity, 20-30 minutes may be ideal. Longer naps may lead to waking up groggy instead of refreshed. (5)
Social activity and other relaxing hobbies also seem to be helpful for health.

Zoë Slote Morris, Steven Wooding, and Jonathan Grant,
The answer is 17 years, what is the question: understanding time lags in translational research., J R Soc Med. 2011 Dec; 104(12): 510–520. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3241518/
Robert H. Shmerling, MD, The Truth Behind Standing Desks, Sept. 23, 2016, Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Health Publishing, health.harvard.edu, https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-truth-behind-standing-desks-2016092310264?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork
Changing Habits, The Learning Center, University of North Carolina, https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/changing-habits/
Why Your Health Insurer Doesn’t Care About Your Big Bills, propublica.org, https://www.propublica.org/article/why-your-health-insurer-does-not-care-about-your-big-bills
Napping, sleepfoundation.org, https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/napping
See Chapter Two: The Lost Hour, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children, Twelve, Hatchette Book Group, New York, 2009 http://www.nurtureshock.com/

Additional references for more information on translational medicine:

Excerpt from a post about my own genetic screening (Genetic Screening can give guidance about potential medication adverse reactions, 2018):

Additional reference for further discussion of the advances in the use of genetic screenings for medication risk is available in a book that is already slightly dated with the rapid advances in technology but as a starting point it is helpful for an overview on the history of technological advances in the area of medical care: The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution will Create Better Health Care, by Eric Topol, M.D., 2013. Basic Books. ISBN: 978-0465061839. (1) (“Book Review…,” and summary, by Jung A Kim, RN, PhD, PubMed_2)

One of the pioneers in personal genetic screening was Esther Dyson, a venture capitalist. She quoted a colleague regarding why she agreed to be one of the first ten participants in the Personal Genome Project:

“You would no more take a drug without knowing the relevant data from your genome than you would get a blood transfusion without knowing your blood type.” [128] (1)

The future of individualized health care will include genetic screening for everyone and what isn’t addressed in the book by cardiologist and translational research specialist Eric Topol, M.D. is the use of genetic screening for individualized nutrition guidance. In addition to discovering what medications may work better or be more dangerous for an individual genetic screening can target which types of exercise or diet plans may be more or less beneficial and which nutrients may need to be restricted or supplemented more than the average guidance.

My previous genetic screening was for fewer genes but which were chosen as most commonly a problem for children on the autism spectrum – I had 11 of the 30 and the guidance led to supplements and diet changes that have helped me feel better and have better mood stability – Methylation Cycle Defects – in me, Genetic Screening “For Research Purposes Only” – at this stage it is a legal phrase as genetic screening is not considered consistent enough for use as a diagnostic tool, but my personal health is of significant interest to me.

Eric Topol, M.D,, The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution will Create Better Health Care, 2013. Basic Books. ISBN: 978-0465061839. (1) Chapter 5, Biology: Sequencing the Genome, page 117: [128]
Jung A Kim, RN, PhD, Book Review: The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution will Create Better Health Care, Health Inform Res. 2013 Sep; 19(3): 229–231. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3810531/ PubMed_2)

[128] Esther Dyson, “Full Disclosure,” Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2007, A15.

May 17, 2018May 17, 2018

What do daisies have to do with autism and Alzheimer’s risk?

Daisies have nothing to do with autism and Alzheimer’s risk but in order to simplify complex topics into real world strategies for preventative health care guidance the complexity has to be thoroughly understood. In the last post the medical and chemistry jargon got thicker than a field of daisies and taking a break can help the brain sort through the field to find a bouquet – metaphorically speaking.

In my real world I also found some online courses to help brush up on making sense of medical and chemical jargon for the lay reader or the health professional. I’m taking some online courses available through Coursera.org: Writing for the Sciences, Stanford University and Medical Neuroscience, Duke University, and for later in the summer: Essentials of Global Health, Yale University.

My own health has been helped by the information I gather – the bouquets of daisies can turn into good hair days and the ability to grow skin. It is easy to take health, and skin, for granted until you lose it and then a physician with a prescription pad is not always available with a helpful answer. “We don’t know what causes it or how to help you but this pain killer might leave you addicted and/or cause uncomfortable side effects” – not a helpful answer and may be a more dangerous answer than “Your lab tests are normal, why don’t you go talk to a therapist about your problems (probably psychosomatic/hypochondria).” Thanks, I’ll go for a walk and think about that, maybe I’ll be able to pick some daisies and get some fresh air and sunshine while I’m out.

Taking a break sometimes is just what is needed to allow the brain to sort through a complicated issue – the solution is there but it may need to be selected out of a field of many possible answers. Some exercise and a little time to not think consciously about it can be what the subconscious needs to put together the pieces so the larger puzzle can be seen. (Don’t Solve Your Problems – Lolly Daskal) Taking a walk was a strategy that Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens liked to use: “If I couldn’t walk fast and far, I should just explode and perish.” – Charles Dickens – (For a More Creative Brain, Take Breaks – Inc.com) (Michael Simmons Quote)

A completed puzzle of a picture of marbles arranged in a rainbow pattern – it was more difficult than it looks.

Taking a walk may not help you solve all your tough puzzles but the exercise is still good for you.

A field of dandelions in front of a mountain (Note: Objects may be closer than they appear).

So what did daisies have to do with yesterday’s post – they represented the pause I took to let all the material that I had read settle into a few take home points about real world strategies that might help protect people with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s Disease or autism – vigorous exercise regularly may help; a diet with a lower than typical balance of calories from carbohydrates versus fats and protein (30% carbohydrate calories); and occasional fasting for a day or afternoon (14) may all help the body to clear out the protein deposits that seem to collect and lead to Alzheimer’s or autism changes in the brain.