MAG
• According to this study, higher magnesium intake correlates with less hostility. They studied 4700+ young adults, BUT they looked at Mag in the diet and in supplements; they did not measure magnesium levels. Still quite interesting.
Ketones for the Heart
• This brief article in JAMA proposes the use of ketone supplements in patients with sick hearts. As patients develop worsening heart failure, the heart muscle actually relies MORE on ketones for fuel.
• Supplementation in rats and humans has shown promise. Ketones might even have some benefit immediately after STEMI (sudden heart attack).
• They do not go into much detail on ketogenic diet, but this would represent a more ‘natural’ method of providing ketone fuel to the heart.
The Devil’s Beard
• People either love cilantro or have messed up taste buds. For those of you who like the detox herb, check out this recipe for a super easy salad. Thank you Steph for the tip.
Exercise
• Have 10-15 minutes to workout and no equipment? Try 100 burpees as fast as you can. You will go from resting to nauseated pretty quickly. Sets of 20 with brief rests seem to work well.
• Have some gas left in the tank? Find a hill (eg. a steep boat ramp!) and do some uphill sprints. Much safer, less likely to fall down. Thanks Josh.
• If you are trying to develop a new habit of working out, remember it takes some time for it to become fun. In the Joy of Movement, Kelly McGonical points out that studies in animals and humans show about a SIX WEEK time period before you get ‘hooked’ on exercise. Also, it isn’t so much the endorphins (internal opioids) but the endocannabinoids (internal THC-like molecules) that lead to runner’s (or exerciser’s) high.
The Human Body
• Two-minute super slow motion video of Simone Biles on the floor routine, amazing physics-defying footage.
Energy
• We should all be very careful with energy drinks, watching not only the caffeine but the many other herbal ingredients. I just tried a couple variations of the low caffeine, low sugar version of FitAid.
• This one has no sugar, is not super sweet, has only 45mg of caffeine (like a Diet Coke), and has some decent vitamins and other relatively safe and useful ingredients.
Quotes
A wise mentor once told me that sometimes our patients are just in a river of crap. And all you can do, the best you can do, is to sit in that river with them, just plunk down and be there, and not run away. Sometimes I feel like that is all we can manage now, at the edge of our collective exhaustion and overwhelm. Other times though, I feel that is actually the greatest gift anyone can ever manage. Perhaps “sitting in the river” is what we should have been doing all along for patients and for each other and are finally learning how, whether we want to or not. We are learning how to be present, even in the darkest of times, with our own grief and fears, and those of our patients. To the many clinicians near and far, thank you for sitting in this river with me.
– Jessi Humphreys from this article in JAMA
Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal. broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended the person through recovery. Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts. We are at our best when we serve others. Be civilized.
