The air we breathe is toxic, we all know that. Most air in cities, be it home, car or office, is recycled stale air. Outside air is poison.The morning air isn’t fresh anymore. In most cases people sleep in long hours in the air conditioner.

The water we drink from the refrigerator is toxic: plastic bottles and CFC gases that make it cold, make it unnatural for the body, causing constipation. In the countryside we have water in earthen pots, its alkaline and good for the gut.

Water

The toothpaste we use is filled with toxic chemicals and flouride, and so is tap water. The bathroom shampoo and soap: toxic for the skin. Same for the rin and vim bars we keep. It’s a chemical world in the bathroom.

The Bathroom

Outside is well.. toxic! The people are toxic, in the apartment building, and in the office, and in the street, just everywhere, the dogs barking in a hostile manner in the streets(they will only be as good as the people around them), and the general smell of stench in the air. Highly toxic.

Lets Go Outside!

Beer is toxic. So is anything we eat outside, those packaged foods, diet coke(I could write a whole article on how bad it is, yet its still popular), cookies, biscuits, snacks, KFC, Dominos, McDonalds.. Toxic. Starbucks is Sugarcity. Sugarbucks. Toxic.Most food has toxic chemicals in it. The food in the lounge bar you frequent? Toxic.The daily alcohol you put in your body just out of peer pressure? Toxic.City food is toxic.

Toxic Food

<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">The Uber driver? Toxic.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">The Tinder date you met? Toxic.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">The vibe in the club? Toxic.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">The men leering from the car windows? Toxic.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">The drifter following you? Toxic.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">The boss that calls at 9pm? Toxic.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">The smartphone you use 10 hours a day? Toxic.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">The Netflix series you started watching? Toxic, woke and just plain BS.</li></ul>

Toxic relationships, Toxic people, Toxic Gadgets

The big brands touting their products in your face all around using billboards costing millions? Toxic.The news? Toxic.

Big Brands serving ads, and our News consumption

Well well what do we have here? What Else? Let's make notes!

Toxic City!

Why is everything toxic in 2024?  Let’s take it one thing at a time.

food

Food

health

Health

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

education

Learning & Education

Toxic City

The primary defense against obesity continues to be modifiable lifestyle factors such as diet. Research has demonstrated that higher‐quality, nutrient‐dense meals, evenly spaced throughout the day and providing 20 to 40 g of protein (termed “protein pacing” [P]), combined with reduced highly processed foods, sugar, and fat as well as higher fiber, yield significant body weight (BW), fat mass (FM), and visceral fat (VF) loss while maintaining fat‐free mass (FFM) and enhancing cardiometabolic health. Furthermore, combining P with caloric restriction (CR) augments these favorable changes.

“Protein Pacing” (P) And Calorie Restriction (CR)

Another targeted dietary option is intermittent fasting (IF), alone or in conjunction with calorie restriction (CR). Several types of IF have varying degrees of efficacy concerning weight loss (WL) and cardiometabolic health improvement, including fasting for 1 or 2 days per week.

Intermittent Fasting (IF) And Calorie Restriction (CR)

IF is associated with improved body composition (reductions in total and VF mass) that may result in enhanced “metabolic switching” and cardiometabolic health outcomes. This switching is characterized by increased fat oxidation, ketone body synthesis, insulin sensitivity, and autophagy, as well as reduced inflammation, oxidative stress, and enhanced lean body mass. Most IF regimens focus on the timing and quantity of calories consumed and de‐emphasize the nutritional quality (higher protein and fiber, reduced intake of sugar and highly processed foods) of the overall diet.

IF With Poor Focus

Current United States dietary recommendations to improve cardiometabolic health and weight management emphasize a CR heart‐healthy diet of increased intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and liquid plant oils and minimal intakes of processed foods, added sugars, salt, and alcohol (65% carbohydrate intake, 20% fat, and 15% protein).

CR Diet Numbers

In comparison, the IF approach used in the study is a modified IF regimen, which allows consumption of 20% to 25% of energy needs on scheduled fasting days (1‐2/wk), combined with a P (IF‐P) meal plan consisting of 35% to 45% carbohydrate, 20% to 30% fat, and 30% to 35% protein for 5 or 6 days weekly.

IF-P Diet Numbers

No previous research has directly compared the effects of extended (≥36 hours) IF‐P versus a heart‐healthy CR meal pattern, matched for total weekly energy intake (EI), meal frequency (4‐5 meals/d), and physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) on cardiometabolic health, BW and composition, hormones, and hunger responses, in women and men with overweight and obesity.

Matching Variables

The purpose of this study was to compare the influence of IF (36‐60 hours) and P (35%; IF‐P) versus a heart‐healthy daily CR (protein, 15%) dietary regimen on total (lean mass and FM) and regional (abdominal/visceral) body composition, cardiometabolic, hormonal, and hunger responses for 8 weeks in women and men with overweight and obesity. The researchers hypothesized that an IF‐P regimen would improve cardiometabolic health, body composition, and satiation compared with a CR regimen.

The Purpose Of This Study

Participants were matched for BW, BMI, and body fat and randomly assigned in parallel to one of two CR groups: 1) IF‐P or 2) a heart‐healthy daily CR diet for 8 weeks. The IF‐P group was further subdivided into two groups for the first 4 weeks only by randomly assigning participants to one of two groups: 1) IF 1 d/wk (36 hours total) and P regimen for the remaining 6 d/wk (IF1‐P); or 2) IF for two consecutive days (60 hours total) and P for the remaining 5 d/wk (IF2‐P) for 4 weeks. Both groups consumed similar total weekly calories throughout the 4 weeks.

The Participants

IF1‐P consisted of ~400 kcal/d, in which participants were provided a variety of supplements and snacks. IF2‐P followed an identical meal pattern for both IF days, except for consuming an additional 100 kcal to achieve ~500 kcal/d for each of the two consecutive fasting days during weeks 1 through 4, in order to achieve a similar weekly total EI as IF1‐P. Beginning in week 5, IF2‐P followed the identical meal pattern as IF1‐P, and the combined group is referred to as IF‐P for the week 8 (post) comparisons.

IF-Days Diet

P days for IF1‐P consisted of 4 and 5 meals per day providing 1350 and 1700 kcal/d for women and men, respectively, and a macronutrient distribution targeting 35% protein, 35% carbohydrate, and 30% fat. IF2‐P followed a similar P meal protocol providing 1500 and 1850 kcal/d for women and men, respectively, and similar macronutrient distribution and total weekly calorie intakes (~8500 kcal/wk) as IF1‐1 for weeks 1 through 4. Thereafter, IF1‐P and IF2‐P followed identical meal plans.

P-Days diet

Participants assigned to the CR diet followed specific guidelines of the National Cholesterol Education Program Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet of the American Heart Association. The specific macronutrient distribution was <35% of kcalories as fat; 50% to 60% of kilocalories as carbohydrates; <200 mg/dL of dietary cholesterol; 20 to 30 g/d of fiber; and low sugar intake (<50 g/d). The total calorie intake was 1200 and 1500 kcal/d for women and men, respectively, during the 8‐week WL intervention.

CR diet

Compared with baseline, both IF‐P and CR participants improved all body composition measures, with IF‐P producing significantly greater improvements in all outcomes on an absolute and relative basis Specifically, IF‐P lost significantly more total BW (−8.2 kg vs. −5.0 kg; or − 9% vs. −5% of initial BW), total body fat (−8.5% vs. −4.3%), AF (−23% vs. −12.5%), and VF (−33% vs. −15.8%) mass. Most interestingly, whereas absolute FFM decreased in both groups (~1.5 kg), the proportion of FFM to total BW increased significantly following IF‐P compared with CR (5.7% vs. 3%, respectively).

IF-P Vs CR: Body Weight Loss And Fat Loss

Both nutritional interventions resulted in significant improvements in cardiovascular outcomes. For example, blood pressure, total cholesterol, low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides were reduced significantly in both IF‐P and CR groups at each time during the intervention, with no differences between groups. High‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C) decreased significantly in IF‐P compared with CR; however, the Total Cholesterol:HDL‐C ratio was consistent throughout the intervention for both groups.

IF-P Vs CR: Cardiometabolic And Hormonal Responses

The P component of IF‐P played an instrumental role in the favorable body composition outcomes, particularly attenuation of loss of FFM. Interestingly, the increased proportion of FFM in IF‐P compared with CR was associated with significantly lower sugar and increased fiber intakes in IF‐P, despite comparable weekly nutrition counseling by the registered dietitian. Whether the increased sugar and lower fiber intake induced an insulin‐mediated fat deposition or blunting of fat oxidation via the carbohydrate‐insulin model remains to be determined.

The P Component Part 1

Previous research shows that increased dietary protein consumption during calorie‐restricted IF protocols substantially enhances FFM preservation, suggesting enhanced protein synthesis. Given the well‐established greater amount of leucine present in animal protein sources, including whey protein, IF‐P improved FFM retention compared with CR. In some cases, IF protocols induce losses of FFM up to 60% of the total weight lost. However, the current study minimized losses of absolute FFM to 20% and increased relative amounts by more than double in IF‐P compared with CR (6% vs. 3%).

The P Component Part 2

The study’s results provide compelling support for both IF‐P and heart‐healthy daily CR nutritional regimens to enhance all aspects of body composition (BW, waist circumference, total FM, percent FFM), cardiovascular (systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood lipids), and satiety responses. IF‐P proved superior on BW, FM, and VF loss and increased proportion of FFM and satiety compared with heart‐healthy CR regimens in women and men with overweight and obesity, despite similar energy intakes and unchanged levels of physical activity energy expenditure.

IF-P Vs CR: The Winner

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

longevity

Longevity

Intermittent Fasting Combined With Protein Pacing Is Superior To Caloric Restriction

Success doesn’t come from feeling good. Feeling good leads to success.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

habits

Habits

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

business

Business

Little Secret to Success 

🧠 Exercise and brain health: Physical activity boosts neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline, enhancing mood and focus. 💪 Immediate effects: A single workout can improve attention and reaction times for at least two hours post-exercise. 🔄 Long-term benefits: Regular exercise increases hippocampal volume and improves long-term memory.

🧍‍♂️ Attention and focus: Exercise enhances attention and focus, which depend on the prefrontal cortex.😊 Mood improvement: Sustained exercise maintains higher levels of mood-enhancing neurotransmitters over time.🛡️ Protective effects: Exercise strengthens the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, areas vulnerable to aging and neurodegenerative diseases.

🏋️‍♂️ Accessibility: Achieving benefits requires moderate exercise, like brisk walking, without needing a gym. 🔬 Personal journey: Suzuki’s own experience with exercise led her to shift her research focus to study its brain benefits.

👩‍🔬 Scientific backing: Suzuki’s findings align with a growing body of research supporting exercise’s positive impact on brain function. 🎯 Optimum exercise prescription: Ongoing research aims to tailor exercise recommendations to individual needs for maximum brain health benefits.

A single workout that you do will immediately increase levels of neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline. That is going to increase your mood right after that workout.

What's the most transformative thing that you can do for your brain today? Exercise! says neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki. Get inspired to go to the gym as Suzuki discusses the science of how working out boosts your mood and memory -- and protects your brain against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

Visit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. 

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sports

Sports

videos

Videos

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.

TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com

Wendy Suzuki: The brain-changing benefits of exercise | TED

Improving mental health awareness can make our society more understanding and accepting. Education and support can decrease stigma and promote well-being.
<ul>
 <li>Learn about mental health to better understand it.</li>
 <li>Speak up against discrimination and support your peers.</li>
 <li>Take care of your own mental health and seek help when needed.</li>
</ul>

Ways to Promote Mental Health Awareness

LET'S MAKE MENTAL HEALTH A PRIORITY, TOGETHER! 🧠💚

mindfulness

Mindfulness

mentalhealth

Mental Health

Mental Health Awareness

You’ve probably already heard sone one telling you to eat healthy, but what is healthy food? To put it simply, the less processed the better. Things like meat, eggs, fruits, are very natural foods and our body knows what to do with them. The more our food gets processed, the worse it is for our bodies. Look at the ingredients, if you can’t recognize half of them, it’s a sign that it’s not fit for consumption.<ul><li>Start eating healthy</li><li>Avoid processed foods</li><li>Stick to natural sources </li></ul>

Proper Nutrition

People talk about staying active, but what does that really mean?To stay active, you need to actively be pursuing fitness goals. Wether it’s to run a slightly faster mile, or hit a new PR in the gym.Having goals and things to strive for motivates you to want to follow through with them. Combine this with consistency In actively chasing those goals and you have all you need.<ul><li>Set fitness goals</li><li>Follow through on your word</li><li>Chase your goals</li></ul>

Daily Exercise

It’s not enough to get 7-8 hours of sleep. you need more than that, your body works best when you have a consistent routine for when you sleep. Try not to deviate more than an hour in between bed times. Set a goal to go to sleep at that time, and do it. Set a goal to wake up at a certain time, and do it. <ul><li>Have a consistent sleep schedule </li><li>Get 8+ hours each night</li></ul>

Your Sleep Schedule

Most people are chronically dehydrated all of the time. Our bodies need half a gallon to a full gallon of water each day. Anything less than that will yield sub optimal results for your health.<ul><li>Half a gallon to a gallon of water a day</li></ul>

Hydration

Humans are very social creatures and we need the attention from other people. Spending too much time alone leads to a variety of mental health issues such as depression and social anxiety.<ul><li>Stay social</li><li>Don’t remain in complete isolation for too long</li></ul>

Social Health

Your health is your greatest asset, we don’t want to lose it. Learn what your body needs and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

The Absolute Basics to Health

First, determine your baseline level by measuring your HRV at rest for 4-6 weeks. Measure it the same way every day, preferably first thing in the morning because that's the most stable part of your day.After this, compare your HRV to your rolling average and to the same day in the previous weeks:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">If it drops too much, you're in fight-or-flight mode likely due to a lot of stress</li><li class="ql-align-justify">If it rises too much, you're in rest-and-digest mode, but you're experiencing too much recovery due to accumulated stress, overtraining or sickness</li></ul>Either way, if your HRV is outside your baseline levels, you should rest.

How to interpret your HRV at rest stats

A higher HRV is generally a good thing, but there are exceptions that the app picks up on. You want your HRV to gradually increase over time (weeks, months, yea

Is a higher Heart Rate Variability always better?

Showing up to any goal is what helps you progress. The more you show up:~ The more you get done~ The faster you progress~ The easier it becomes to stay consistent

Why Consistency Matters

Learning why you do what you do is vital for results. For this to work you’ll need to examine your subconscious thoughts and beliefs. Often times when we don’t want to do something, our subconscious remembers that and puts limitations on future progress. The opposite is true however and the more love and attention we give to something, the more our subconscious will think about it. When you get your subconscious to start thinking, you’ll get more ideas, and you’ll open up a lot more towards your goals.

Overcoming A Negative Subconscious

With any goal, it can be hard to keep that motivation and consistency to really stick. The main things that drive us, are often much deeper than we give them credit for. Here’s an example:You don’t want to lose weight, but you’re tired of people making fun of you and not having any respect for you.The driving force here is inadequacy. You hate the person you’ve become and want to become better. When we tie our goals to really strong emotions such as hate or love, we connect with them better and can be much more willing to work towards them.

Identifying Why You Want It In The First Place

The goal is to always move forwards. Ultimately if you aren’t progressing, you’re regressing. And after all the work that’s already been it into our goals, that’s the last thing we want. To overcome this, we have to realize that what we achieved yesterday no longer matters. It’s about what we do day after day. Giving up after a week is no way to succeed in a weight loss program. There will come a day where you can relax and focus on other goals, but that day is not today.

The Idea Of Staying Static

To become great in any human metric is going to be difficult, it’s not for everyone. And if you can’t handle a little pain and discomfort, then maybe it’s not for you. Most people give up before they fail, and they never get to see the final result from their labors. The best way to overcome this is to simply realize that it’s going to be difficult, and that’s why it’s worth pursuing. If everyone had it, it wouldn’t have any value would it? It’s valuable because it’s difficult to obtain and that makes people envious of those who can put in the work.

Why People Fail

Staying consistent is what compounds our efforts into our dreams.A negative mindset won’t serve you any more than a broken keyboard helps you type, change your mindset to better cultivate a better reality.Everyone has goals, but unless you have a reason to get behind that goal, it’ll eventually fade. Tie your goals to strong emotional triggers to better work towards them.Staying stagnant means regressing on your goals. Always keep moving, no matter how slow.Failure comes from quitting. If you never give up, you’ll be that much closer to living the life of your dreams.

Conclusion

Learn how important consistency can be, and how you can become more consistent in your goals.

productivity

Productivity

philosophy

Philosophy

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

How to Overcome Consistency in Your Goals

Your heart rate is constantly changing to adapt to what you're doing and keep your body in a steady state (homeostasis). As such, your Heart Rate Variability reflects your body's capacity to adapt to physical and psychological changes.In general, a higher HRV indicates better fitness, but too much variation means you're wasting energy. Worse even, too little variation indicates chronic health problems, where the body is struggling to adapt to changes.

A healthy heart is not a metronome

Heart Rate Variability: New Perspectives

A paper published in Nature Metabolism shows conclusively that lactate is produced normally in humans after ingestion of carbohydrates. Lactate rapidly enters the bloodstream, even before glucose shows up. Far from being a toxic byproduct to be eliminated during hard exercise, dietary glucose is converted so rapidly to lactate that it preempts or shares top billing with glucose as the two main carbon-energy carriers in the body.

Lactate Rivals Glucose As An Energy Carrier

The results of the study show that the rapid conversion of glucose to lactate, starting initially in the intestines, is a way for the body to deal with a sudden dose of carbohydrates. Lactate, working with insulin, buffers the appearance of dietary glucose in the blood.Instead of a big glucose surge, we have a lactate and glucose surge after eating. And the more of it that is converted into lactate from glucose, the better it is to manage glucose. Lactate is a carbohydrate buffer.

Lactate Is A Carbohydrate Buffer

The new study confirms that lactate plays the same role during normal non-exercise activity and resting as in during intense exercise. It's evidence to show that lactate shouldn't be associated with anaerobic metabolism. It's just a normal response to consuming carbohydrates or to exercise. In exercise, lactate is utilized as the dominant fuel source. That's why our blood lactate increases as we exercise a little harder. It's not that we're making it as a waste product. It's getting into the blood because it needs to go to tissues that need it to continue their physiological performance.

Lactate Is Not A Waste Product; It Is, in Fact, A Fuel

The researchers found that the bodies of the volunteers began converting the dietary glucose into lactate before it even left the intestines. Levels of lactate began rising in arterial blood a mere 5 minutes after the meal, while glucose, often touted as the energy currency of the body, only showed up in the bloodstream 15 to 30 minutes after glucose ingestion.

Lactate: The First Responder

The first carbohydrate after a glucose meal gets into the blood as lactate because a) that's what intestinal cells do and because b) most of the glucose is captured by the liver before it is released into the blood for the muscles, where glucose is going to be converted to lactate. This shows that lactate is just a major energy highway for distributing carbohydrate—carbon energy flux.

Lactate: An Energy Highway For Distributing Carbohydrate

In his 1984 book, “Exercise Physiology: Human Bioenergetics and Its Applications” George Brooks coined the term "lactate shuttle" to describe the body's metabolic feedback loop in which lactate is the intermediary sustaining most if not all tissues and organs.

The Lactate Shuttle Theory

Dr Brooks has shown, for example, that in many tissues, lactate is preferred as a fuel over glucose. During intense activity, the muscle mitochondria burn it preferentially and even shut off glucose and fatty acid fuel use. Brooks used tracers to show that human skeletal muscle, heart muscle and the brain prefer lactate to glucose as fuel and run more strongly on lactate. Lactate also signals fat tissue to stop breaking down fat for fuel.

“Cut The Glucose! Bring On The Lactate!”

One gap in these studies was what happens during normal non-exercise activity and resting. The current study fills that gap and supports the idea that when lactate levels in the blood remain high, it is a signal that something is disrupting the lactate shuttle cycle, not that lactate itself is harming the body."It's really informative about various medical conditions," Dr Brooks says. "I think what's significant about the current result is that it's just not a muscle thing. It starts with dietary carbohydrate. This was a missing piece in the puzzle."

It’s Just Not A Muscle Thing

A new paper refutes the notion that lactate is a danger sign of oxygen deprivation in the muscles or a toxic byproduct to be eliminated.

As a student competing in track and field at his Parlier high school, Robert Leija was obsessed with how to improve his performance, and in particular, prevent the buildup of lactic acid in his muscles during training. Like many athletes, he blamed it for the performance fatigue and muscle soreness he experienced after intense workouts.

Lactate: A Fuel, A Vehicle And A Highway Combined

Find 100+ Fun Facts about Exercise - Curated from popular Videos, Podcasts, Books, Guides & Articles - Genuine Insights from like-minded Users like You!