Strategies for being Optimally Healthy
( with fewer difficulties and more vitality )
In late 2024, an iou: in the near future and beyond, this page will continue to improve with additions and (especially) revisions.
bio: I'm Craig Rusbult, an enthusiastic educator with a PhD (in Curriculum & Instruction from U of Wisconsin) who is excited about possibilities for improving our thinking-learning-teaching and living, who has been fascinated by many aspects of life (leading to writing web-pages in a wide variety of areas) during life on a road less traveled. / Basically I'm healthy (afaik) with plenty of energy, especially for my age of 3/4 + 1.
In this page you can read the topics in any order, by scrolling downward or clicking these inside-the-page links:
my goals (for the page & my health)
Scientific Knowledge about Health-Effects of Lifestyle Actions*
that can include Conflicting Factors & Conflicting Claims, and
my encouragements to Get (and use) Genetic Information,
also to buy an air purifier, get enough exercise & sleep,
eat wisely (e.g. a Mediterranean Diet, eating lots of
“healthy foods” while reducing sugar & bad fats),
plus (with many general principles) my health-lifestyle information:
basics - food & supplements - air quality - exercising - sleeping.
* This section (re: knowledge about actions) begins with...
my dream: While pursuing a goal of optimal overall health, I wish there was a way to get “total information” about the overall effects of each action (especially in decisions about food & supplements, but also for exercise & sleep and other choices), like having a computer program where I describe an action and it tells me the effects on everything, i.e. How does this action affect my probability of... being vigorously healthy today? in 1 year? 10 years? getting cancers (of various types)? heart diseases (of various types)? macular degeneration? glaucoma? dementia? (Alzheimer's? other types?) plus other effects on health and qualities of life – physical, mental, emotional. / Of course I realize that getting this kind of super-knowledge is impossible (so I'm realistic with expectations) but it's a dream that provides motivation and direction.
my goals for the page: Originally it was intended to be “extra information” for physicians & their staff. But I think most of them (even the most dedicated) don't want to “learn a lot in-a-page,” instead they want to “learn some in-person.” Now the page is for them (if they want) but mainly it's for anyone who is interested, because I want to encourage people to plan their strategies for lifestyle-actions (for eating, exercising, sleeping,...) so their actions are beneficial short-term and also long-term. I've been doing this planning-and-action for a long time, but in some areas I'm wishing these had begun sooner, when I was younger and the beneficial actions would have been more-beneficial for a longer time. As part of a plan, I'm also encouraging people to get genetic information because when all things are considered, it's almost always better to know than to not-know. {unless you enjoy the blissful ignorance of not knowing so remaining in-denial is easier, with less cognitive dissonance}
reasons for pessimism: Although I'm an enthusiastic educator, I'm wondering if a goal of “education” is practical, since my ideas are not “new” or “special” and there is little reason for anyone to care about what I think. Even when I have ideas that I think (with personal bias, although maybe not inaccuracy) are innovative with high quality — like those for Problem-Solving Process or Improvising Music with my Colorized Keyboard — it's been difficult to motivate others, to persuade them that they also want to be enthusiastic about the ideas.
my goals for maintaining health: When asked about his age, Satchel Paige (one of the best pitchers in baseball history) sometimes responded with a question, asking “If you awoke in the morning and didn't know how old you were, how old would you be?” How old do you feel – physically, mentally, and emotionally? Although my Actual Age is 76, I estimate my Paige Age as 56. Well, that's overly optimistic. But it's what I feel most mornings, in most ways. I've been lucky, with mostly good genes (thanks, Mom & Dad) and good health. But I also “work” at staying young – trying to slow down my rate of slowdown – with attitudes (gratitude, enthusiasm,...), mental fitness (by active thinking), and in other ways, including a physical fitness that is the main topic of this page.
SCIENCE
Our Scientific Knowledge about
Lifestyle Decisions-and-Actions:
my dream: I wish there was a way to get “total information” about the effects of each action (especially in decisions about food & supplements, but also exercise & sleep and other choices), like a computer where I describe an action and it tells me the effects on everything, i.e. How does this action affect my probability of... being vigorously healthy in 1 year? 10 years? of getting cancers (of various types)? heart diseases (of various types)? macular degeneration? glaucoma? dementia? (Alzheimer's? other types?)
personal history: For most of my adult life, I've been fascinated by questions about connections between lifestyle – especially nutrition, but also exercise & sleep and other factors – and multiple aspects of health. But there have been five special times:
1) In 1970 during my first year of graduate study (in Chemistry) at U of Washington in Seattle, I became less interested in specialized research and more interested in learning about (and applying for life) neuroscience and especially (due to its immediate practical value) nutrition.* I wrote a paper on "Food for Thought" about the neuroscience of eating for better thinking, but didn't find much (partly because much less was known then, compared with now) for adults, but learned the importance of prenatal nutrition (for the mother) and then (for the child) nutrition early in life. / * If I had pursued these fields, probably I would have continued being unexcited about "specialized research," instead would have wanted to develop review articles that "summarize the current state of understanding on a topic" with "a review of literature that provides a critical evaluation of the data available from existing studies." In fact, later my two-part PhD project was not narrow research, but was "a unifying synthesis of ideas (mainly from scientists and philosophers, but also from sociologists, psychologists, historians, educators, and myself) into a model of scientific method [similar to a review article], and [with “research” that is unlike typical data-based experiments] an application of this model for the integrative analysis of a creative classroom in which students solved problems by using science-inquiry."
2) In 1985 a TV show explained the dangers of trans fats. Despite the lack of “proof” there was enough evidence to logically persuade me; evidence-and-logic is the foundation of science, is the basis for scientific testing of theories, and for health questions (like whether we should eat trans fats) a practical scientist is looking for “good ways to bet” instead of “proofs” when making decisions. My eating of trans fats immediately decreased from a lot – especially with delicious melted “tub butter” (margarine) on warm grains – to almost nothing. A decade later, articles began appearing in science-based medical journals (JAMA,...) confirming what the tv physician had said.
3) In mid-August 1998, I suddenly developed significant atrial palpitations — a “fluttering” feeling in the chest that often continued throughout the day — and this led to testing (by UW Health) and lots of studying (by me) in the medical library of UW-Madison. Later I discovered a correlation that I think wasn't a coincidence, because the symptoms developed within a day after changing my sleeping location from high (a 4" latex foam mattress on bunk bed, near ceiling) to low (with mattress on floor); then during a move-out 5 months later I found lots of black mold (a health danger in various ways) under a small “dorm room refrigerator” on the floor, close to my bed, because I hadn't let the temporarily-wet carpet sufficiently “dry out” after a defrosting; that day I moved out of the room and flew to our family home in Anaheim CA, where the symptoms were greatly reduced, becoming much weaker and much less frequent... until January 2021 when I had Omicron Covid that was mild overall — partly because I had the two-shot combo with mRNA vaccine (a wonderful medical development, finally being used after decades of development) in February 2021, plus a booster in October — but with the strongest palpitations in 22 years. { There is a logical reason to infer causation from this correlation. }
4) In late 2017 a doctor said my cholesterol was borderline-unhealthy — based on guidelines that he said seemed overly harsh, recommending (for example) that almost all males over 65 should be taking statins — and (after learning about side effects of statins) I didn't want this, so I made a radical change to using what's mainly a healthy “Mediterranean diet” that includes lots of vegetables & fruits, with more “good fats” (monounsaturated in olive oil) and less “bad fats” (saturated), minimal sugar. The results were very good, because 7 months later I had more HDL (good cholesterol) and less LDL (bad cholesterol); after another 14 months, with more discipline, it was even better. For #4 and #5, most of my info-finding has been online in web-pages and (recently) youtube videos.
5) In late 2021, getting results of genetic testing from 23andMe, let me know that although in early life my genes were good overall (➞ being intelligent, athletic, healthy), in later life some genes might be bad (➞ higher risks for Alzheimer's Disease and Macular Degeneration). This knowledge has motivated me to make changes that I think will be beneficial.
scientific research: It's difficult to make reliable conclusions based on scientific-medical studies, for a variety of reasons, because... there are many interactive complexities of human physiology, with individual variations due to each factor affecting different people in different ways; we can develop a variety of possible disorders; there are time-delays in developing disorders; many actions (nutrition plus other lifestyle factors) cause multiple effects; the many effects can cause confusion due to conflicting factors, because a lifestyle-action that's beneficial for one disorder can be harmful for another, or can affect quality of life in contradictory ways; and there are other challenges. Basically, science doesn't try to “prove” anything (with total certainty), instead its goal is helping us – as individuals and societies – discover “good ways to bet” with our lifestyle decisions-and-actions that will improve a person's quality of life.
precision medicine: As a scientist and a person who cares about health, I like this article (from Apollo Health) by Dr Dale Bredesen (of UCLA) comparing typical Alzheimer's research (with the goal of trying to find a “silver bullet”) and his multi-factorial approach (thinking it's more effective to search for “silver buckshot”) with personally customized medical applications. Bredesen & colleagues recently (2022) published a paper about their Precision Medicine Approach in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. His work is especially interesting personally, because I have one APOE-e4 gene (thus a moderately higher risk for AD) and I want to remain intelligent, and I also want this for others. / In my new home city (why?) of Columbus OH, Wexner Medical Center (of Ohio State University) has programs for Precision Medicine in Vision Care (including Eye Genetics) & Cancer Treatment (with Siemens Healthineers & more) and other areas. But so far, I haven't found anything directly relevant for my genes.
Two of my interests are precision medicine and the benefits of music. Francis Collins discovered these long before I did, and has done much more to advance both fields.
precision medicine: I'm optimistic about possibilities for Precision Medicine and Personalized Medicine (these are related with many overlaps, but are not identical), think our healthcare system should use this essential tool for treating people with personally customized precision. Francis Collins — a major contributor in this field, working as director of Human Genome Project and then National Institutes of Health (NIH), and as a researcher in medical genetics — presented an excellent webinar about Promises and Challenges of Implementing Precision Health in March 2024.
benefits of music: It's enjoyable, is one of the best things in life, and scientists have been learning about the many benefits (mental, emotional, physical) that people get from hearing music and (at higher levels) by playing music. This is especially valuable for young people (to help them develop more of their full potential for what they could become) but also old people (to help maintain more of what they have become, and even add to it). Francis Collins was a co-founder of Sound Health (to promote relevant research) and remains involved in this area. I've begun writing about the many benefits of music, and am especially excited about Improvising Music using a colorized keyboard.
There is nutritional confusion about...
some actions (re: foods & supplements) with unresolved questions about conflicting claims. This is partly due to confusion among scientists – with difficulties in doing research and interpreting the results – but also in how knowledge is provided, because it's tough to know “who is providing the best information” and “who has personal interests” that sometimes are monetary gains, but “ego gains” are more common. Consider the different perspectives, regarding mainstream views & practices, of challengers and defenders.* Powerful “ego motivations” can occur when a person challenges conventional wisdom and they are treated as heroes by many people. {this is similar to the appeal of convention-challenging conspiracy theories} But on the other side, mainstream defenders (who are scientists, nutritionists, physicians,...) tend to be overly cautious; unless a claim is “proved” (beyond a reasonable doubt) they tend to conclude that it should be rejected. I think this is mostly due to genuine concern for others — as when physicians think “first do no harm” (an ethical principle of informal Hippocratic Oath) — but also partly because they want to maintain respect among their professional colleagues, who typically dislike (and discourage) challenges to conventional knowledge.
In addition to (or as one aspect of) these psychological factors, a logical factor during evaluations of risks-vs-benefits is placing different emphases on the risks of actions (like taking supplements that may have some harmful effects) versus the risks of inactions (like not taking supplements that may have some beneficial effects). There also are uncertainties (indicated by "may have" in each), plus conflicting factors when some effects are harmful but others are beneficial. All of this can lead to placing "the burden of proof" on those proposing either actions or inactions; this difference can lead to different conclusions about recommendations for doing the action, or not doing it. When we have some evidence (of harms and/or benefits) but not enough to "prove or disprove" claims, should we prioritize a risk-reducing cautious attitude – as in a precautionary principle – or a benefit-increasing open attitude? For many important questions, there are reasons (based on logic and values) for both attitudes. Therefore many people, including me, are confused and uncertain.
* For example, between the 1980s (when medical science was learning more about the dangers of trans fats, and I learned about this) and mid-1990s (when research was published in mainstream journals) the “mainstream view” of many – but not all – was neutral (or even favorable) toward trans fats. During this time I don't know (but I'm curious, would like to know) what individual physicians typically were recommending. { For a long time, beginning in the 1950s, some scientists had been describing their concerns about trans fats, but they didn't yet have strong evidence. }
I'm confused, with uncertainties about...
• fish: For me a very important dilemma is fish and TMAO, because fish (especially the kind I eat, mainly sardines & salmon, plus occasional tuna)* are generally considered to be healthy (they're part of a “Mediterranean diet”), but studies have shown that eating them increases TMAO (tri-methyl amine oxidase) which is correlated with many kinds of cardiovascular diseases, yet eating fish (of these types) is generally correlated with good health, plus logical questions because correlation doesn't necessarily show causation. Therefore it's confusing, with contradictory evidences-and-claims from different sources. But I'm continuing to eat large amounts of fish (average 4 days/week, for more than half of my meals), especially sardines. / * Even though albacore tuna (white meat) is delicious, I avoid it because it's “high on the food chain” so it contains more mercury than the cheaper tuna (tan meat) that has much less mercury.
grains: Most scientists say “whole grains are good” but some people in the nutrition community say “all grains are bad.” But without grains it's difficult for me to get the calories required for maintaining weight, for not losing weight. Part of the confusion is that gluten (in wheat, barley,...) definitely is bad for people whose genes make them allergic to it — so I'm wondering if this is a source of claims that it's bad for everyone — even though most people (including me, afaik) are not allergic to gluten. But some scientists (and non-scientists) claim that ALL grains (even those without gluten) are health-harmful. I'm continuing to eat grains, but now it's mainly oats, not gluten-containing wheat & barley (as I did earlier); plus lentils.
avocados: These have conflicting claims. Almost all scientists say “good” but one study showed that they have mutagenic properties, and this might lead to causing cancer. AFAIK there has been no reliable refutation(s) of this study or confirmation(s) of it. As this page says, "The first study we will address was published in 2010. Despite being around for several years now, it seems almost no one discusses it." This is confusing, frustrating. The page describes the many wonderful nutritional qualities of avacodos, followed by a large section titled "The dark side no one talks about" but... why don't they talk about it?
cocoa powder (and spinach,...): For several years I ate cocoa in large amounts (2 tablespoons/day) because nutritionally it's beneficial in many ways. But I learned (in late 2021) that it often contains harmful heavy metals, especially cadmium and lead, that accumulate in the body and are difficult to . Since then my half-used tin of organic cocoa powder has been ignored. Even though it's organic, this doesn't matter because metals come from the ground where cocoa is typically grown, not from non-organic chemicals sprayed onto the plants. Also, I don't think there are “good companies” and “bad companies” (that do & don't pollute the food) because cocoa from one location might be OK but from another location not-OK, and the only way to know is with lab testing, but doing this is expensive. So if a company does testing, many people will buy from a competitor who doesn't do testing so they can sell their product at a lower price. And if a company refuses to sell some of their cocoa because it has higher levels of heavy metals, this causes additional loss of money for them. Therefore the apparently-excellent company I had been buying from (Anthony's) won't release lab tests of their product — if they do any testing (they say only "Batch Tested and Verified Gluten Free & Non GMO" but say nothing about testing for metals) — despite requests from me and other customers.* And they won't refuse to sell high-metal cocoa. The agricultural & economic realities are understandable, but frustrating. {* And now it's difficult to get "questions & answers" for all products, not just Anthony's, on Amazon. } / And recently (January 2024) I found reports on spinach and many other vegetables, and more. According to Google, "What foods to avoid cadmium? The food groups that contribute most of the dietary cadmium exposure are cereals and cereal products, vegetables, nuts and pulses, starchy roots or potatoes, plus meat and meat products." So almost everything I eat has dangerous levels of cadmium? Also, "Is kale high in heavy metals? A recent study... found that kale — along with [other cruciferous vegetables having many beneficial nutritional effects] cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and collard greens — is a hyper-accumulator of heavy metals like thallium and cesium. [and cadmium, lead,...?]" Wow. Is nothing safe to eat? / updates: Today (March 4) I read that this is an example of "the bad journalistic tendency to take any new ‘study’ or research at face value, without asking enough questions" about how the research was done, and how this affects the research quality. And evidently there was a "kale panic" earlier, in 2015, reported by Snopes. / I'm confused, but am continuing to eat vegetables, especially green leafy and cruciferous.
These kinds of questions — with conflicting claims & effects & evidences, like hearing “vegetables are healthy” (in most ways) AND (in this way) “vegetables are unhealthy” — are why I dream about having "a way to get ‘total information’ about the total health-effects of every action."
GENETICS
Do you want to know?
I say YES because knowledge almost always is useful. Therefore I'm surprised that many people answer NO. For example, if a parent has Huntington's Disease (a horrible way to end life), each child has a 50-50 chance of getting it. It's caused by a single gene, and with genetic testing a child can know if they will or won't develop HD, but most – perhaps 90% – choose to not know. Two main reasons are the lack of a cure, and being free to imagine (if they don't know the truth) that they won't ever get it. I would not be able to imagine this. But maybe the 90% are better at doing it. In this situation, every day I would be wondering “will I get it,” and either way (whether the genetic result is Yes or No) I would want to know. If it's “no” my mind would be freed, able to enjoy life without wondering “will I get it,” able to make plans with confident knowledge. And if “yes” I also could make plans based on knowledge. Either way, planning would be wiser because decisions (and emotions,...) are based on reality, not fantasy. / But despite these personal feelings, I recognize that we should be...
supplementing honesty with empathy: Although I don't understand why a person would say No, this is a very important decision for them (not me) and those who want to “not know” have reasons. A summary of a scientific study about why-reasons describes a useful attitude: "researchers say choosing not to know if one is a carrier of the Huntington’s gene is a decision that deserves the respect and understanding of doctors and genetic counselors, who nevertheless should offer them supportive counseling." Cleveland Clinic offers info & advice, Should You Get Genetic Testing for Huntington’s Disease?
For me, useful information from 23andMe arrived in November 2021. Although in early life my genes were generally beneficial (helping me be intelligent, athletic, healthy), in old age they might be harmful in two ways.
1) The risk of getting Alzheimer's Disease is affected by a gene called APOE. For every gene, a person gets two alleles, one from mother and one from their father. For the APOE gene, the alleles can have three variations: e2, e3, e4. If the most common allele (e3) is defined to be “neutral” a relatively harmful variation (e4) increases the risk, and a relatively beneficial variation (e2) decreases the risk. My two alleles are e4 (increasing the risk) and e3 (neutral). My genetics – with one e4 allele – increases the probability from about 10% by age 86 (for the overall population) to about 25% (with one e4), IF a person is “average” in their lifestyle (re: nutrition, exercise, weight, etc), but I seem to be better than average for this; and I'm trying to improve it. {information from Mayo Clinic & -----}
2) Two genes are known to affect the risk for Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD, or AMD). For me, one gene has two higher-risk alleles; and for the other gene, one allele is higher-risk.* Of my 4 alleles, 3 are the high-risk variations, so the possibility of me getting ARMD is much higher than normal. But even without 23andMe, I suspected this possibility (but didn't do much about it) because my mother developed AMD in her mid-70s; it progressed to Wet MD in both eyes, with almost no detail-vision in one eye, and in her other eye a little detail-vision that was maintained by a monthly injection (of Avastin or Eyelea) into her eyeball. Although "I suspected this" it didn't lead to early genetic testing or – more important – it didn't lead me to begin protective actions “just in case” with dietary supplements plus reducing damage due to harmful blue light and (especially) UV light. But I didn't do these actions, and (oops) this was a mistake. / * My increased risk is because of two alleles (Y402H) in the CFH gene, and one allele (A69S) in the ARMS2 gene.
timing: Did I want to know? Yes. My only regret about knowing the genetic results (first from 23andMe, and soon from All of Us) is the timing. I should have done it sooner, because this would have motivated me to begin doing...
productive actions: Throughout most of life, and especially after getting genetic information about my genes for AD (#1) and ARMD (#2), I've learned about productive actions and have tried to do what will help me be healthy-and-vigorous in all ways. But as explained above, I should have “done more, sooner,” especially for AMD. And I should have bought an air purifier 20 years earlier (when I first seriously considered it) instead of waiting until late 2023. Much earlier, I knew that breathing tiny particles – PM10 and (especially) PM2.5 – is a danger to health, in many ways. I knew, but didn't convert my beliefs into actions.
[[ iou – This will be continued with information about the changes I've made -- for example (as described earlier in this page), daily intermittent fasting and a special supplement designed to delay Macular Degeneration (and hopefully it will) -- in addition to continuing the basically-ok (I hope) things I had been doing, with a mostly-Mediterranean Diet, regular exercising, etc. ]]
Basic Medical Information
Allergies: none known, for foods or medicines; but I probably have allergic reactions to some “things in the air.”
Conditions: basically very healthy (afaik) especially for age 76; but... some atrial palpitations that are minor (a “fluttering” feeling, not the rapid beating of atrial fibrillation) and occasional (sometimes early mornings after waking, but not during the day); and a “tingling” of left-hand thumb & fingers, especially mornings for a short time after waking.
Concerns: stroke (with risk increase due to atrial irregularities), heart attack, etc (motivating changes in eating) for no special reason except that everyone should be concerned, cancer (I don't have any AFAIK, but it has affected many family & friends, and through decades I've breathed many unhealthy chemicals, mostly during work in “temporary jobs” during early-1970s and in chemistry buildings & teaching-labs during 1966-71, 1975, 1991-2012), glaucoma (not yet, but my optic nerve looks vulnerable, has been “watched” since early-1990s), macular degeneration due to genetic risks.
Drugs: latanoprost (1 drop in left eye, 2 hours before sleep) because both optic nerves “look vulnerable” for developing glaucoma, and in 2018 the layer in left eye was “getting thinner” more rapidly than in right eye.
FOOD
Basically I have a "Mediterranean Diet" with lots of vegetables and fruits, olive oil, fish plus other meats & dairy. I try to eat zero trans fats, lots of “good oils” (mono-unsaturated fat, as in olive oil) but much less “bad oils” (saturated fat), and very little sugar.
Mainly I eat vegetables & fruits, nuts, grains, animal protein, oils.
vegetables: occasionally I do blending-and-freezing in large batches (lasting 45 days) and eat it twice daily; it includes frozen vegies (lots of spinach & kale and collard, plus broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, sweet potato, okra, peas, lima beans, green beans) and fresh vegies (cabbage, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, bell peppers); daily vegetable juice (V8 or Walmart's copy-version). Occasionally I eat non-frozen fresh vegetables: bell peppers, zucchini & squash; occasional frozen corn, small onions.
fruits: daily orange & apple, plus frozen (daily lots of blueberries, plus strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and often a little mango, peach, pineapple; occasional cherries).
oil: twice daily (5 tbsp total), extra-virgin olive oil.
nuts: lots daily (walnuts & almonds, plus cashews, pecan, and almost-daily peanuts, sunflower, pumpkin); occasional pistachios for taste treats.
grains: daily oats (dry/rolled Quaker in water) and/or boiled mix (oats & lentils); occasionally (1 or 2 per month) donuts or bagels, or chips (corn, potato), and more rarely crackers.
animal protein: medium-small amounts, fairly low fat, with canned meats from Costco – often fish (sardines, salmon, tuna) and sometimes chicken — and sometimes baked chicken (from Whole Foods); egg (typically 1/2 per day); milk (dried non-fat, in water); organic lower-fat ground beef (about 1/4 pound/week).
semi-sweet chocolate: almost daily in small amounts (about 5 tiny mini-morsels), letting them slowly dissolve while I enjoy, to maximize the tasting pleasure and minimize the nutritional effects. {why I ate lots of cocoa but now don't}
intermittent fasting: This began in late 2021. Why? It's widely recommended by scientists as a generally-beneficial health practice. Specifically and personally, I began doing it as a protective action after learning about my genetic risks. How? Most days (usually 6 per week) I eat only two meals, one in late morning (with vegetable blend, grains, olive oil, animal protein, 7 kinds of nuts/seeds: walnuts, almonds, peanuts, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds) and then late afternoon (vegetables, nuts, olive oil, animal-protein, plus fruits). Some days (averaging once a week) I also eat at a third time.
slow eating: Usually I eat slowly, chewing thoroughly for better digestion (a functional purpose, to break food into small pieces, and mix it with saliva that helps digest the complex carbohydrates of vegies & grain) and for better tasting (an emotional purpose, to enjoy the delicious flavor of foods). But also quickly — so all food can be digested, once the process begins — by chewing constantly with minimal breaks, usually taking 30-45 minutes from start to finish.
dietary supplements
Vitamins: multi-vitamin/mineral (Centrum Silver) one per day, split in 2 doses, noon & 6 pm; A (in B-carotene, every other day), C (2000 mg/day, split mid-day [quick release] and early evening [sustained release]), D (2000 IU/day), E (400 mg/day, mixed tocopherols), folic acid (400 at night, to help prevent Restless Leg Syndrome).
Minerals: zinc (50 mg/day, split 30/20 with meals); potassium (100 mg at night); magnesium (125 mg at night); and small amounts of many minerals (but not iron) in multi-vitamin/mineral pill.
Supplements & Spices-etc: aspirin (81 mg, enteric coated); fish oil, kelp, theanine (300 mg, before sleeping); daily in a capsule (gingko, ginseng, garlic, ginger, cayenne, cinnamon, taurine); for science-supported protection against Macular Degeneration, AREDS 2+ (from UpNourish) with Lutein (10 mg), Zeaxanthin 1 mg), Astaxanthin (3 mg), Saffron (10 mg), fish oil (125 mg, with 50 mg DHA and 12 mg EPA). / daily in powders (cayenne, garlic, ginger, cinnamon) and flakes (oregano, parsley, basil) and smaller amounts of (cloves, fennel, rosemary, cumin, paprika).
Caffeine: usually 175-200 mg/day (from coffee, caffeine pill, green & black tea). For 5 years (ending Nov 2020) it was higher, averaging 300 mg/day in split doses, roughly 50/hour from 9 am to 2 pm; then (Nov 2020) this was reduced to the current levels.
AIR
cleaner air: Since 1962 I've known about the air pollution that harms people.* Since 2004 I've considered protective actions, but didn't buy air purifiers (with HEPA filters) until late 2023. In this area of life I've had no uncertainties about whether to filter the air, although some questions remain about how to do it most effectively. But my timing was a mistake. I should have begun actions much earlier in life, instead of waiting 61 years.
* At age 14 in 1962, our family moved from small-town Iowa to Anaheim CA. Shortly after the move, during a visit to West Covina (which was more polluted than Anaheim) I said “I'm worried that I may have tuberculosis or lung cancer, because it hurts when I breathe.” My uncle said “no, it's probably the air pollution.” Weather forecasts in SoCal typically included smog reports, often with a warning about increased “eye irritation” but with me it was “lung pain.”
EXERCISE
aerobics: Throughout life I've been physically active — mainly by playing sports when younger, and later by running (half-marathons in 1983 & 2008, plus many shorter runs) and rowing machines (once rowed a full marathon), and riding bicycle (once rode a 104-miler, and for a decade often did twice-weekly multiple “wind sprints” up-and-down the Monroe Street Hill in Madison). But I didn't have a daily routine until 2013 when I moved back to our family home in Anaheim CA, to be a caregiver for Mom and Dad. They had a recumbent exercise bicycle, purchased a decade earlier, and did early-morning training most days. After moving back to Madison in 2020, I bought a similar kind of recumbent exercise bicycle (it's $173 in January 2024) and again did almost-daily training, usually 6 days each week; now in Columbus (with the same ex-bike) my almost-daily routine is 12 minutes of riding spread over 20 minutes, with my cycling rpm regulated by the musical bpm (130-160) of songs on an mp3 player. I do four rides of 2.5 minutes and one of 2.0 minutes, separated by 1 minute of leg exercises and 1 minute of resting.
stretching & strengthening: I use an exercise grid to motivate regular workouts, with exercises done between 2x and 14x per week, averaging around 7x, i.e once daily.
At age 60, I finally discovered the benefits of synchronous running and – as with many other actions – wish that I had begun doing this sooner.
SLEEP
iou – I'll write this soon, maybe in March 2024. Unlike most people, I usually sleep twice each night, with a biphasic pattern that evidently was "the usual way" in earlier days (before street lights, etc), according to historians and scientists. { later I'll provide information & links }
three definite correlations, and a possible causation: Two correlations were during 1998-99, when palpitations began (the day after my bed moved from top of room to floor, near black mold under small refrigerator) in August 1998, and then decreased (after I moved out of the room) in January 1999. Much later I got Omicron Covid in January 2021, and had the strongest palpitations in 22 years. One result of covid (me in January 2021) is inflammation, and black mold (me in 1998-99) can cause inflammation; and inflammation can cause atrial palpitations, so maybe there is a causal connection between 1999 and 2021. Maybe. This chain of logic is based on two correlative coincidences, with strong palpitations beginning a day after moving my bed from near the ceiling to near the mold (lasting until I moved out of the room), and later also occurring at the height of my covid illness. These correlations aren't “proof of causation” – because they might be just random coincidences – but the timings (with strong symptoms occurring when I was breathing mold and was ill with covid) seem too distinctive to ignore, could be “evidence for causation.” I've searched for scientific-medical research about a possible causal connection between the two inflammations (mold & covid) and palpitations, but haven't found much, although maybe it's due to the complexity of research, and because this isn't a common problem compared with cancer, dementia, or overall cardiovascular health.
RARE, children & young adults -- much unknown -- benign (usually, but...)
NO CURE but symptom relief with systemic antibiotics & corticosteroids.
update-2023, Teklehaimanot; Gade; Rubenstein (book chapter? in ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
"PLEVA is a relatively benign cutaneous disorder of unclear origin that affects children and young adults." -- "Due to the benign nature of PLEVA, pharmacologic therapy is unnecessary but may quicken the recovery process and provide relief if the patient is symptomatic. Data regarding treatment for the disease is limited, although various retrospective series and case reports recognize systemic antibiotics or phototherapy as first-line therapies in conjunction with corticosteroids."
"PLEVA has been found to erupt in response to receiving the human papillomavirus, influenza, tetanus, measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccinations."
Doxycycline monohydrate -- antibiotic (whole-body effects on microbiome, long-term use w months) (personal & societal)
triamcinolone 0.1 % --
2024-update in ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, for triaminolone-- "Other adverse effects include those associated with all corticosteroids, including... increased intraocular pressure."
“Steroids are the main medicine that can raise eye pressure for patients with open-angle glaucoma,” Dr. McKinney says. Taking steroid drugs in any form – orally, topically, through an inhaler or IV – can worsen glaucoma for these patients."
"Atropine and other anticholinergics can substantially increase pressure in the eyes." [wikip] "Drug interactions are mainly pharmacodynamic, that is, they result from other drugs either adding to triamcinolone's corticoid side effects or..." -- "Corticosteroids are commonly utilized as adjunctive therapy."