Wayfinder 62 / Can Going Keto Improve Depression
Can the keto diet help treat depression?
Nutrition + Mental Wellness // The research is promising. Recent studies suggest the keto diet might be an effective tool for treating depression and clearing up "brain fog". A reduction in inflammation is cited as one of the main reasons the keto diet may work. A significant reduction of carbs and sugar helps the body reduce inflammation. As well, mitochondria (our primary energy cells) may function more effectively on the keto diet.
Seeking true happiness? Harness the power of negative thinking
Philosophy // The collective consensus seems to be increasing toward the negative. A negative outlook on our personal circumstances and the direction we're headed as a species is widespread. No doubt this is fueled by mass media. Pessimism, in my view, isn't negativity, it's based in reality. This can be crucial to taking action, as opposed to positive thinking that can be based on fantasy. There is a fine balance to achieve a content life.
The Top Health Benefits of Green Space
Get Dirty + Wellness // Nature is a powerful ally. To improve immunity, boost mood, reduce stress and depression, increase longevity and lower risk for chronic diseases we simply need to step outside.
For hundreds of thousands of generations, human beings lived, worked, ate, played, and slept outdoors in the most lush, verdant natural environments they could find. Never before in our history have we spent as little time in contact with plants and animals as we do today.
In a study of more than 11,000 adults from Denmark, researchers found that participants who lived more than roughly half a mile away from green space were 42 percent more likely to report high stress levels than those who lived closer to green space.
Naturalist Poet Mary Oliver Reminded Us to be Devoted to Life
Creativity // Perhaps the greatest gift a writer could give to a reader is simply to help them notice—to pay attention—that they are alive. If that’s the case, many of us have received a very special gift from Mary Oliver.
Mary Oliver’s Poems Taught Me How to Live
Creativity // It is no exaggeration to say that Mary Oliver gave me the blueprint, the road map, for the rest of my life.
Mary Oliver died last week at the age of 83.
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
— Mary Oliver
The Two Keys to Forming Habits—and Making Them Stick
Habits // Habits line the path toward success. While many books over the last decade have discussed methods for building successful habits, Brad Stulberg proposes the best way to strengthen the formation and stickiness of habits is community and self-compassion.
It’s not that manipulating the trigger → behavior → reward cycle doesn’t work. It actually works wonderfully. But what I’ve learned from all my personal failures, research, and coaching is that manipulating this cycle is rarely enough. It becomes much more effective when it’s supported by two key assets: community and self-compassion.
Tiny House On Wheels
Essential Living // Apparently you can purchase a tiny home on Amazon. This one looks pretty cool and at a good price, $50K + shipping (I don't think you can use Prime shipping).
New plant-focused diet would ‘transform’ planet’s future, say scientists
Nutrition // The first science-based diet that tackles both the poor food eaten by billions of people and averts global environmental catastrophe has been devised. It requires huge cuts in red meat-eating in western countries and radical changes across the world.
James Middleton Writes About His Intense Struggle With Depression
Mental Wellness // Each night sleep eluded me. A cacophony of imaginary noises rang in my head. It felt as if ten different radio stations were competing for airtime and the din was ceaseless and wearying.
“I know I’m richly blessed and live a privileged life,” wrote Middleton, 31. “But it did not make me immune to depression. It is tricky to describe the condition. It is not merely sadness. It is an illness, a cancer of the mind.”
Is Sunscreen the New Margarine?
Wellness // Supplements aren't the answer. Again, nature—in this case the sun—trumps pharmaceutical intervention. Turns out lack of sun exposure may put us at a greater risk for death.
So Lindqvist decided to look at overall mortality rates, and the results were shocking. Over the 20 years of the study, sun avoiders were twice as likely to die as sun worshippers.
