Exercise has effects that extend far beyond physical fitness. Its positive impact reverberates through our mental, emotional, and even financial well-being.Some of the benefits include:<ol><li>Improved Mood and Mental Health</li><li>Boosted Motivation and Energy</li><li>Maintain Overall Health</li><li>Improved Impulse Control</li><li>Enhanced Brain Function</li><li>Cultivation of Self-Discipline</li></ol>Let's explore those further...

The Most Powerful Keystone Habit: EXERCISE

Habits shape the outcome of everyday. Having a positive habit that influences so many other areas is helpful in becoming the best version of yourself that you want to be

In our quest for personal growth and self-improvement, we often seek out habits that can have a profound impact on various aspects of our lives. Among these habits, there is one that stands out as a…

mindfulness

Mindfulness

problemsolving

Problem Solving

books

Books

meditation

Meditation

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

The One Habit That Has the Greatest Ripple Effect on Your Life

<ul><li>Addiction is a progressive narrowing of the things that bring you pleasure. </li><li>Happiness is a progressive expansion of the things that bring you pleasure. The former emerges passively. </li></ul>The latter takes work, deliberate abstinence from no-effort-to-high-dopamine behaviors & drugs. Like directed attention, conscious understanding, mindfulness etc.

Addiction vs Happiness

A very functional definition of happiness

health

Health

Dopamine and Happiness

Ali Abdaal, a former doctor, now a Youtube influencer, shared the basics:<ul><li>Moisturiser: whose purpose is to rehydrate our skin & keeps the skin barrier intact. 2 times a day, ideally after the shower. </li><li>Sunscreen: stop genetic mutations caused by sun exposure. Go for a large spectrum (UV-A & UV-B) with a high SPF (30 or 50).</li><li>Retinoid: anti-aging miracle (minimise wrinkles, acne etc) by promoting growth of colagen. Not to be confused with retinoids, a weaker version.</li><li>Cleanser: Better than water for cleaning up your face. Go with one with hyaluronic acid & cermaides. </li></ul>

Basic Products for Skincare

In the morning:<ul><li>Clean up the face with a cleanser</li><li>Apply moisturiser</li><li>& sunscreen </li></ul>There are moisturisers with sunscreen protection, like 2 in 1. In the evening:<ul><li>Cleanse the face again</li><li>Apply retonid cream ... give a couple minutes to settle in.</li><li>Apply moisturiser cream. </li></ul>Voila! This basic routine should help keep your skin younger. It gives 90+% of the benefits of all the cutting-edge methods.

The basic skincare routine

My wife keeps encouraging me to use products for my skin ... never understood the science and options. Until now. 

So what is the perfect productive skincare routine? There are zillions of skincare products out there, from avocado face masks to LED therapy and snail-slime face creams. However, you can get 90% of the possible benefits with just 3 or 4 products, which I include in my Productive Skincare Routine. Enjoy :) CeraVe PM Daily Facial Moisturiser: https://geni.us/NuIpLGA CeraVe Hydrating Foaming Oil Cleanser: https://geni.us/UjkB6g Altruist Dermatologist Sunscreen Face Fluid: https://geni.us/Jsih6b Altruist Sunscreen SPF50: https://altruistsun.com/sunscreen/sunscreen-spf50-100ml/ Dermatica Retinoid: https://www.dermatica.co.uk/ Usama's channel: @Dr. Usama Syed Usama's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usamasyed/ My full-length chat with Usama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv0ISHGGw1A TIME STAMPS 00:00 Intro 01:25 Rule 1 - Moisturize twice a day 03:10 Rule 2 - Use a sunscreen every day 06:58 Rule 3 - Use a retinoid 11:01 Rule 4 - Use a cleanser Submit your video ideas and if we pick your video, we'll send you $100 - https://aliabdaal.typeform.com/video-ideas MY FREE ONLINE COURSES: 🚀 Productivity Masterclass - Principles and Tools to Boost Your Productivity - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/productivity 🎬 Video Editing with Final Cut Pro X - From Beginner to YouTuber - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/video-editing 🎓 How to Study for Exams - An Evidence-Based Masterclass - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/studying PART-TIME YOUTUBER ACADEMY: 🍿 My 6-week live online course - https://academy.aliabdaal.com CREATORPRENEUR 💰 My flag-ship course for scaling up your creative side-hustle - https://creatorpreneur.academy/course YOUTUBE FOR BEGINNERS COURSE 📸 This is for anyone who'd like to start a YouTube channel. You'll learn everything you need to get started as a YouTuber including how to script, shoot, and edit your first video - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/YouTube-for-Beginners MY FAVOURITE GEAR: 🎥 My YouTube Camera Gear - https://kit.co/AliAbdaal ⌨️ My Keyboard - Wireless Coral mechanical keyboard (Cherry Blue) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/keyboard 📝 My favourite iPad Screen Protector - Paperlike - https://go.aliabdaal.com/paperlike 🎒 My Desk Accessories + Todo List - Ugmonk - https://go.aliabdaal.com/ugmonk MY FAVOURITE SOFTWARE: ✍️ The best summaries of books (Shortform) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/shortform 📚 How I remember what I read (Readwise) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/readwise 🎵 Where I get my Music (amazing for YouTubers) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/epidemicsound 🎙 Deep Dive podcast - https://www.youtube.com/c/DeepDivewithAliAbdaal/ The podcast that delves into the minds of entrepreneurs, creators and other inspiring people to uncover the philosophies, strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives. You can find it by searching “Deep Dive” on any podcast app (eg: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts etc). BE MY FRIEND: 💌 Sign up to my weekly email newsletter - https://aliabdaal.com/friendzone/ 🌍 My website / blog - https://www.aliabdaal.com 📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/aliabdaal 🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/aliabdaal 💙 The Friendzone Discord - https://discord.gg/Dh2kGavffd 🎮 Twitch - https://twitch.tv/aliabdaal WHO AM I: I’m Ali, a YouTuber, podcaster, soon-to-be author and ex-Doctor working in London, UK. I make videos that explore the strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives. I also have a weekly podcast called Deep Dive (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChfo46ZNOV-vtehDc25A1Ug), and I write a weekly email newsletter that contains some quick thoughts + links to interesting things (https://email.aliabdaal.com). GET IN TOUCH: If you’d like to talk, I’d love to hear from you. Tweeting @AliAbdaal directly will be the quickest way to get a response, but if your question is very long, feel free to email me at hi@aliabdaal.com. I try my best to reply to things but there sadly aren't enough hours in the day to respond to everyone 😭 PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

📖 Check out my new book Feel-Good Productivity here! https://www.feelgoodproductivity.com/?utm_campaign=preorder&utm_source=youtube_long&utm_medium=video_description&utm_content=My+Evidence-Based+Skincare+Routine

So what is the perfect productive skincare routine? There are zillions of skincare products out there, from avocado face masks to LED therapy and snail-slime face creams. However, you can get 90% of the possible benefits with just 3 or 4 products, which I include in my Productive Skincare Routine. Enjoy :) (Btw you can watch an ad-free version of this video on Nebula -  https://nebula.tv/videos/aliabdaal-my-productive-skincare-routine)

CeraVe PM Daily Facial Moisturiser: https://geni.us/NuIpLGA
CeraVe Hydrating Foaming Oil Cleanser: https://geni.us/UjkB6g
Altruist Dermatologist Sunscreen Face Fluid: https://geni.us/Jsih6b
Altruist Sunscreen SPF50: https://altruistsun.com/sunscreen/sunscreen-spf50-100ml/
Dermatica Retinoid: https://www.dermatica.co.uk/

Usama's channel: @usamasyed 
Usama's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usamasyed/
My full-length chat with Usama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv0ISHGGw1A

TIME STAMPS
00:00 Intro
01:25 Rule 1 - Moisturize twice a day
03:10 Rule 2 - Use a sunscreen every day
06:58 Rule 3 - Use a retinoid
11:01 Rule 4 - Use a cleanser

Submit your video ideas and if we pick your video, we'll send you $100 -  https://aliabdaal.typeform.com/video-ideas

MY FREE ONLINE COURSES:
🚀  Productivity Masterclass - Principles and Tools to Boost Your Productivity - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/productivity
🎬  Video Editing with Final Cut Pro X - From Beginner to YouTuber - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/video-editing
🎓  How to Study for Exams - An Evidence-Based Masterclass - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/studying

PART-TIME YOUTUBER ACADEMY:
🍿 My 6-week live online course - https://academy.aliabdaal.com

CREATORPRENEUR
💰 My flag-ship course for scaling up your creative side-hustle - https://creatorpreneur.academy/course

YOUTUBE FOR BEGINNERS COURSE
📸 This is for anyone who'd like to start a YouTube channel. You'll learn everything you need to get started as a YouTuber including how to script, shoot, and edit your first video - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/YouTube-for-Beginners

MY FAVOURITE GEAR:
🎥  My YouTube Camera Gear - https://kit.co/AliAbdaal
⌨️  My Keyboard - Wireless Coral mechanical keyboard (Cherry Blue) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/keyboard 
📝  My favourite iPad Screen Protector - Paperlike - https://go.aliabdaal.com/paperlike 
🎒 My Desk Accessories + Todo List - Ugmonk - https://go.aliabdaal.com/ugmonk

MY FAVOURITE SOFTWARE:
✍️ The best summaries of books (Shortform) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/shortform
📚  How I remember what I read (Readwise) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/readwise 
🎵  Where I get my Music (amazing for YouTubers) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/epidemicsound

🎙 Deep Dive podcast - https://www.youtube.com/c/DeepDivewithAliAbdaal/
The podcast that delves into the minds of entrepreneurs, creators and other inspiring people to uncover the philosophies, strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives. You can find it by searching “Deep Dive” on any podcast app (eg: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts etc). 

BE MY FRIEND:
💌  Sign up to my weekly email newsletter - https://aliabdaal.com/friendzone/
🌍  My website / blog - https://www.aliabdaal.com 
📸  Instagram - https://instagram.com/aliabdaal
🐦  Twitter - https://twitter.com/aliabdaal
💙  The Friendzone Discord - https://discord.gg/Dh2kGavffd
🎮  Twitch - https://twitch.tv/aliabdaal

WHO AM I:
I’m Ali, a YouTuber, podcaster, soon-to-be author and ex-Doctor working in London, UK. I make videos that explore the strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives. I also have a weekly podcast called Deep Dive (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChfo46ZNOV-vtehDc25A1Ug), and I write a weekly email newsletter that contains some quick thoughts + links to interesting things (https://email.aliabdaal.com).


GET IN TOUCH:
If you’d like to talk, I’d love to hear from you. Tweeting @AliAbdaal directly will be the quickest way to get a response, but if your question is very long, feel free to email me at hi@aliabdaal.com. I try my best to reply to things but there sadly aren't enough hours in the day to respond to everyone 😭

PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜

📚 Check out my first book Feel-Good Productivity here: https://www.feelgoodproductivity.com/

Hey, I'm Ali, a doctor turned entrepreneur, and the world’s most followed productivity expert 😜 

On this channel, we explore evidence-based strategies and tools that can help us be more productive, and build a life that we love. 

If that sounds interesting, consider subscribing! See you in the next video x

Ali Abdaal

My Evidence-Based Skincare Routine

Evidence-Based Skincare Routine

No. Cholesterol is absolutely vital for our existence. Cholesterol is one of the main building blocks used to make cell membranes and without we would be dead.There is no such thing as “bad” cholesterol or “good” cholesterol. All cholesterol is good!The only “bad” outcome is when cholesterol ends up inside of the wall of an artery leadimg to an inflammatory cascade which can lead to

Is Cholesterol Bad?

LDL carries other molecules than cholesterol (LDL-C). These extra particles are called LDL-P. For example, triglycerides (TG) are also carried within LDL-particles. Studies have indicated that if there is discordance between LDL-C and LDL-P (one low, the other high), cardiovascular disease risk tracks more closely with LDL-P than LDL-C. So risk is high if there is a discordance and LDL-P are high. Because the particles are more to blame than the actual cholesterol.

LDL-C & LDL-P

Cholesterol is an organic molecule, required by all cell membranes to produce steroid hormones & bile acids.About 25% of our daily “intake” of cholesterol comes from what we eat (egg yolks, meat or cheese) & 75% is made by our body. So we make most of the cholesterol. If you have too much cholesterol in your blood, it can combine with other substances in the blood to form plaque. Plaque sticks to the walls of your arteries.

What Is Cholesterol

Cholesterol is hydrophobic, so it needs to be carried around our bloodstream using a protein transporting molecule.The protein wrapped “vehicle” that transports the lipids are called lipoproteins. The ratio of lipid-to-protein in the lipoprotein structure determines its density: <ol><li>HDL: high-density lipoprotein. Sometimes called "good" because it carries cholesterol from other parts of your body back to your liver, to be removed</li><li>LDL : low-density lipoprotein. Sometimes called "bad" as it leads to the buildup of plaque in your arteries</li><li>VLDL: very low-density lipoprotein, mainly carries triglycerides</li></ol>

Lipoproteins - How Does Cholesterol Move Around

Doctors focus on lowering LDL-C. Most will recommend eating less meat & dairy products or statins. However these interventions do little to lower LDL-P.Interventions that lower LDL-P more than LDL-C include omega-3 fatty acids, exercise and Mediterranean and low carbohydrate diets. Although statins lower LDL-P, it's not significant.Sugar seems to be the most harmful food category for LDL-P. Especially when sugar combines with fat.

Lowering LDL

As I look into lowering my cholesterol, I discovered I had no idea what this even mean .... 

food

Food

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

Dr. Peter Attia Ultimate Guide on Cholesterol

<ul>
<li>Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food</li>
<li>Don’t eat anything that is incapable of rotting</li>
<li>Avoid food products containing ingredients that are unfamiliar, hard to pronounce unpronounceable, more than five in number, and that include high-fructose corn syrup</li>
<li>Avoid food products that make health claims; a health claim on a food product is a good indication that it’s not really food</li>
<li>Shop the edges of the supermarket and stay out of the middle. In most supermarkets, processed food products dominate the center aisles while fresh food line the walls</li>
<li>Get out of the supermarket whenever possible and go to a farmers’ market. </li>
</ul>

Eat The Food

<ul>
<li>Eat mostly plants, especially leaves</li>
<li>Eat as many different kinds of plants as possible as they all have different antioxidants</li>
<li>Plant foods—with the exception of seeds—are less energy-dense so you’ll likely consume fewer calories</li>
<li>We don’t need to eat meat—with the exception of vitamin B12, every nutrient found in meat can be obtained somewhere else</li>
<li>If you eat meat, buy it in bulk and freeze it. Freezing does not significantly diminish the nutritional value of produce</li>
<li>The greater the diversity of foods you eat, the more likely you are to cover all your nutritional bases</li>
<li>Eat well-growth food from healthy soils: look for food that is both organic and local</li>
<li>Eat wild foods when you can</li>
<li>Eat according to the rules of your traditional food culture</li>
</ul>

Eat Mostly Plants

<ul>
<li>Pay more, eat less. Better food costs more. </li>
<li>Eat until you are 80% full. It takes 20 minutes before the brain gets the word that the belly is full. Eat slower and consult your sense of satiety</li>
<li>Eat meals. Snack less</li>
<li>Do all your eating at a table and try not to eat alone</li>
<li>Serve smaller portions on smaller plates</li>
<li>Use glasses that are more vertical than horizontal. We tend to pour more into squat glasses</li>
<li>Leave healthy foods in view, unhealthy ones out of view</li>
<li>Leave serving bowls in the kitchen rather than on the table to discourage seconds</li>
<li>Eat slowly. “Slow” in the sense of deliberate and knowledgeable eating</li>
<li>Cook and, if you can, plant a garden. The food you grow yourself is fresher than any you can buy.</li>
</ul>

How to Eat

To escape the Western diet and the ideology of nutritionism, we have only to stop eating and thinking that way.
<ul>
<li>Instead of stressing over nutrients, just avoid any food that has been processed to such an extent that it is more the product of industry than of nature.</li>
<li>The surest way to escape the Western diet is simply to depart the realms it rules: the supermarket, the convenience store, and the fast-food outlet.</li>
</ul>

Getting Over Nutritionism

Nutritionism divides nutrients in food into healthy and unhealthy ones: good nutrients and bad. This ideology has a hard times making a qualitative distinctions between foods. 
Fish, beef and chicken become in this case just delivery systems for varying quantities of fats, proteins and other nutrients are on their scope. In the same way, any qualitative distinctions between processed foods and whole foods disappear when your focus is on quantifying the nutrients they contain.

The Continual Battle of One Nutrient Over Another

<ul>
<li>Nutritionism is not the same as nutrition. It is not a scientific subject but an ideology.</li>
<li>Ideologies are ways of organizing large areas of life and experience under a set of shared but unexamined assumptions.</li>
<li>For nutritionism, the widely shared but unexamined assumption is that the key to understanding food is the nutrient; foods are essentially the sum of their nutrient parts.</li>
<li>This means that to live in this ideology of eating unseen nutrients (unlike food, we don't see nutrients) you need lots of expert help.</li>
<li>Nutritionism is good for the food business but no so much for us.</li>
</ul>

The Rise of Nutritionism

<ul>
<li>From whole foods to refined: a change toward increasingly refined foods (mostly carbohydrates)</li>
<li>From complexity to simplicity: the industrialization of the food chain has involved a process of chemical and biological simplification</li>
<li>From quality to quantity: not only we’re eating a whole lot more but we’re getting substantially less nutrition per calorie than we used to.</li>
<li>From leaves to seeds: leaves provide a host of critical nutrients a body can’t get from a diet of refined seeds.</li>
<li>From food culture to food science: the industrialization of food is deliberately undermining traditional food cultures everywhere.</li>
</ul>

The Industrialization of Eating: The Essential Transformations

longevity

Longevity

Fasting Basics

'A must-read ... satisfying, rich ... loaded with flavour' Sunday Telegraph This book is a celebration of food. By food, Michael Pollan means real, proper, simple food - not the kind that comes in a packet, or has lists of unpronounceable ingredients, or that makes nutritional claims about how healthy it is. More like the kind of food your great-grandmother would recognize. In Defence of Food is a simple invitation to junk the science, ditch the diet and instead rediscover the joys of eating well. By following a few pieces of advice (Eat at a table - a desk doesn't count. Don't buy food where you'd buy your petrol!), you will enrich your life and your palate, and enlarge your sense of what it means to be healthy and happy. It's time to fall in love with food again. For the past twenty years, Michael Pollan has been writing about the places where the human and natural worlds intersect: food, agriculture, gardens, drugs, and architecture. His most recent book, about the ethics and ecology of eating, is The Omnivore's Dilemma, named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post. He is also the author of The Botany of Desire, A Place of My Own and Second Nature.

'A must-read ... satisfying, rich ... loaded with flavour' Sunday Telegraph This book is a celebration of food. By food, Michael Pollan means real, proper, simple food - not the kind that comes in a packet, or has lists of unpronounceable ingredients, or that makes nutritional claims about how healthy it is. More like the kind of food your great-grandmother would recognize. In Defence of Food is a simple invitation to junk the science, ditch the diet and instead rediscover the joys of eating well. By following a few pieces of advice (Eat at a table - a desk doesn't count. Don't buy food where you'd buy your petrol!), you will enrich your life and your palate, and enlarge your sense of what it means to be healthy and happy. It's time to fall in love with food again. For the past twenty years, Michael Pollan has been writing about the places where the human and natural worlds intersect: food, agriculture, gardens, drugs, and architecture. His most recent book, about the ethics and ecology of eating, is The Omnivore's Dilemma, named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post. He is also the author of The Botany of Desire, A Place of My Own and Second Nature.

Michael Pollan is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is also the director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism.

The One Habit That Has the Greatest Ripple Effect on Your Life

Dopamine and Happiness

Evidence-Based Skincare Routine

It's time to Read like a Pro.

Dr. Peter Attia Ultimate Guide on Cholesterol

It's time to
Read like a Pro.