Share Your Favorite Health Hacks

#1

I searched the site for a topic like this, and haven’t found it, so I thought I’d start a thread, hopefully it’ll be useful and interesting (if already exists, please lock this!).

There are no categories excluded: food prep, exercise, medication storage, anything - as long as it’s related to enhancing health or making the process of enhancing your health more efficient.

So, I’ll share a quick one to get the ball rolling:

Non-dominant hand training. I am right handed, but I saw a lot of research claiming benefits for training your non-dominant hand/limb for enhancing neural plasticity etc.

The neural correlates of intermanual transfer

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921009307?via%3Dihub

So my idea was to simply tranfer as many daily tasks from my right hand to my non-dominant left hand. Years ago, I adopted a pretty complex teeth brushing routine, one element of which was using my left hand to brush in the morning. But for the last couple of years I’ve gradually expanded this to as many daily living tasks as possible, gradually adding more and getting better at execution - obviously be careful with more dangerous tasks, where you need fine control! Anyhow, I’m talking simple stuff, like mixing stuff with a spoon, or buttoning a shirt, and so on. It’s amazing - there is a vast number of things you do without thinking about it, and just automatically using your dominant hand - reaching out and flipping a light switch - and how “foreign” and odd it is to try to entrain your non-dominant hand at that task! Subjectively, I feel as if my brain is more “alive” after all this entraining, but of course I have no “proof”. I just feel that if exercise is good for training the CNS-nerve signal pathway-muscle, there’s got to be benefits from using a non-dominant hand to work out new pathways and stimulate brain connections. Who knows, it might even be useful in preserving brain health in the context of dementia, if learning to play an instrument late in life (Dr. Fraser) has such benefits, why not this. YMMV.

Set aside a “foreign language day” every week. On that day, try to incorporate a foreign language as much as possible - so, with my wife, I will speak exclusively (she’s been learning Spanish for the past couple of years, and I learned Spanish back in my 20’s along with French, and it’s pretty rusty), in a foreign language that day, watch yt videos in the language, listen to podcasts, watch films without subtitles, read instruction manuals in the language and so on. It really makes your brain work, because it’s language used in daily life, not in a “lesson” setting.

I don’t want to make this introductory post too long, but more can come later, if there is interest in this thread!

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#2

Not exactly on the same track as what you’re targeting, perhaps, but some related discussions:

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#3

I have a routine. I have a balcony facing the sun so I will make coffee and drink it out there to get morning sunlight. I’ll also have my large healthy breakfast smoothie out there. I’m also a weirdo who will have a can of sardines or herring in the morning to get my omega 3s as I dislike seafood but won’t let it stop me from being healthier.

An hour later, I will do a full body resistance training workout (usually 15-20 sets total), follow it up with HIIT, jogging, or walking depending on the day, then go in the sauna, then do red light therapy in my apartment for ten minutes before showering.

On days I don’t lift, I’ll do the same routine without the lifting.

You brought up learning other languages and I think that’s fantastic for the brain. I am fortunate enough to be bilingual in French from a young age so I’ve been trying to learn Spanish.

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#4

Great routine, especially following it on your days off from exercise.

Here I’ll throw in a word about routines. There is also a health angle, I promise! I’m all about optimizing efficiencies, and routines are the foundation of such.

You develop a routine and refine it with time into an optimal protocol. Take food - I know exactly what I’m eating on any given day of the week. It’s standardized. There is no loss of time “what will I eat today”, no anxiety no choices to be made. The diet has been worked out. Meal prep time has been minimized - gain of time. Of course, special occasion, going out to eat etc., is a separate matter, that’s life. This food routine, in turn enables an extremely efficient shopping routine - once a week at the same time, you hit the same 3 stores, know exactly what you will buy and where it is (except when they reorganize the store!). Boom, done. And so on for everything.

This approach to everything, turning these things into routines has great advantages. The biggest one is time savings and the diminishing of the cognitive load* and stress. I don’t ever have to think about things like food, shopping, clothes, paying bills, and so much more of life. There is zero stress. It still leaves room for spontaneity, having guests, traveling, getting treats, going out etc., but it all fits into the totality of the tapestry of life.

The less stress and cognitive load is a big health advantage, I feel. And there is another consequence to routines: it makes it easier for the body to maintain homeostasis. Aging and disease is basically a loss of homeostasis and the inability to recover to it. I have noticed that this ordered routine in my life allows for my body to be habituated to a certain circadian rhythm. My body is ready for the time of exercise, food, even (TMI!) things like time of #2. All this lessens the stress on the body and makes maintaining homeostasis easier. How do I know these effects? Well, that’s another health hack:

Keeping a Health Journal. For the past 25 years I’ve kept a journal on my computer, in which I record all health related events, such as aches and pains, exercise routines, details of diet, supplements and medications I take etc… I can see the correlations going back years. It makes it easier for me to spot the impact of a new supplement/drug or health intervention. It literally takes less than a minute a day - why, because I’ve made it into a routine, where I have a constant schedule and only need to copy a day from last week (Wednesday to Wednesday etc.), and only note the few changes that may have occurred on that particular day (f.ex. last Wednesday I didn’t have a headache but this Wednesday I did, so I copy all of Wednesday and only need to add “headache from 4:30 pm to 6pm”. etc.). It takes so little time to maintain - less than a minute a day once you get going - and is invaluable in being able to look at your health and lifestyle history going back decades. And from that journal I can see how routines have contributed to my health and regularity of my body functioning.

*re: cognitive load, a few years ago, there was a lot of attention around Mann’s 43 folders - he also popularized David Allen’s Getting Things Done, which in essence was a way of organizing your life tasks into a system with minimized cognitive load, so you never have anxiety about tasks that are hanging over your shoulder and procrastination. A valuable concept and approach - you of course modify it according to your needs. YMMV.

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#5

Chew gum after surgery to restart your bowels.

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#7

I’m not sure if this counts as a hack since it’s more of a pillar that helps form the foundation of a healthy lifestyle, but a minimum of 20 minutes of exercise (often vigorous) early in the day reduces and often eliminates work stress altogether. The impact on anxiety and depressive like symptoms is one of the most powerful things in my health regime and it’s often cheap or free. Things like walking are important too, but they don’t have the same effect in me as moderate-intense forms of movement.

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#8

Sperti Vitamin D Sunlamp. I thought oral supplementation was sufficient, but after positive effects of the sunlamp, I conclude that skin synthesis is not the same as oral (go figure.) https://www.sperti.com/how-a-vitamin-d-lamp-works/

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#9

@CronosTempi I find the organization of your life very inspiring.
If you are willing to share your weekly menu, I’d love to see if I can glean any ideas from all your hard work.

@LukeMV impressed you don’t like seafood but will still down those sardines :slight_smile:

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#10

I can tolerate it but I don’t like them, lol. I actually like sushi though. Go figure.

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#11

Rosehip for osteoarthritis:
2 level teaspoons per day of ground, dried, organic rosehip shells

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#12

Not sure if it’s a hack, but I like to consider that most things are based on the area under the curve (AUC). High lipids of LDL-C 200mg/dl won’t kill you, but 20 years of it might. Not wearing your seatbelt for a short journey probably won’t kill you, but frequently not wearing one might. One cigarette won’t kill you, but getting addicted will probably contribute to your death. Drinking too much with your friends is probably fine on rare occasions, but devastating if it becomes a habit.

So, I try to implement “good” things which are sustainable and require minimum effort to have high adherence. Like, there’s no point deciding you want to exercise and get fit, then just going all out, getting super exhausted, risking injury etc. You will most likely give up. However, consistent, low-level exercise for years is going to be FAR better than short-term gung-ho efforts which last weeks or months. Same for diets. I could never stick to any sort of restrictive diet that rules out too many foods, so I go for something sustainable, which is simply to minimise junk and consider my total calories. That’s it.

Every time in the past I’ve made some resolution of “NOW I’m going to work on hitting that 20 minute 5K” or “NOW I’m going to get past that stubborn 110kg bench press” I end up burning out. So now I’ve settled with not going for those, but I’m confident I can run faster and bench press more than most people, and I can do it without much stress or risk.

I use the “medications” feature on iPhone to remind me, and tick off, taking medications, supplements etc. There is one reminder for the AM supplements and one for PM. I know some people have all sorts of complex rituals, with food, without food etc, but I don’t think I can ever stick to it.

I put my interdental brush in the shower. My ketoconazole shampoo (for hair loss) needs 2 minutes on the scalp. So during the 2 minutes, I use the interdental brush. It’s very lazy, but it makes sure that I brush between teeth every single day without fail - reducing future risk of tooth loss, gum damage, and maybe even dementia etc.

Skincare routine is printed on a small card, laminated, and stuck inside the bathroom cabinet. So when I get my stuff, I open the door and see what day it is. Very simple and takes less than 2 minutes in AM and PM. It means I apply sunscreen every single day, without fail. That will help me look better and reduce cancer risks as I age. I also have a sunscreen in every single backpack, one stashed in my office etc. Basically, removing barriers to doing the right thing.

When I go downstairs to the kitchen, my shaker flask and protein powder is right there. 30 seconds to mix and drink.

I also do at least one crossword, and play at least one game of chess per day. That’s a new habit, but I’ve stuck to it for 18 months or so. I’m not great at either, but I am getting better. As soon as things get competitive like “I’m going to hit a 1,500 ELO” then I will most likely burn out, so I’m keeping it light and fun.

Final thing: I try to enjoy my kids being kids. They can be pretty annoying/demanding, but soon they’ll be teenagers and won’t talk to me, so I should give them as much as I can right now.

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#13

@relaxedmeatball Care to share your skincare card? I’m curious, and it may help me out or vice versa if you want comments from the peanut gallery. :slight_smile:

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#14

Stellar post! Easily doable is where it’s at. Psychologists have sussed this out long ago. This is where some benign social engineering has worked for the greater good. For example it was noticed that if you made automatic tranfers of a portion of salary to savings you’d have great success and compliance, rarely would people elect to go through the trouble of stopping those savings. Also, merely urging people to save would have minimal uptake. Minimizing friction, working with inertia rather than against it, allowing passive good rather than urging active measures.

That is wisdom based on human psychology (long delayed insight by economists that perfectly rational economic actors don’t exist in real life).

If you want healthy habits, they must be made sustainable, low friction, minimal cognitive load and taking advantage of positive inertia.

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#15

Sure, here it is.

Skincare routine
Skincare routine1172×1758 375 KB

It’s not very pretty, but basically it’s 1-30 down the side, for each day of the month.

Mornings are easy: wash face, Vitamin C, niacinamide, sunscreen.

Evenings rotate, using tretinoin (0.1% for me) and azelaic acid, with some rest days. I also have a microneedling day at day 14, so the actives are dropped for a couple days before and after.

If you care about products, they are:

Cleanser - LaRoche Posay (LRP) Effaclar oil-control cleanser (basic glycerol-based product)

Vitamin C: Paula’s Choice C-15 - (the new formula with ferulic acid)

Niacinamide: some basic 15% serum

Sunscreen: varies, but usually mineral based. Sometimes I use a combination product

Morning moisturiser: LRP Effaclar series again, which works super well for my oily skin and is a matte finish which works as a base for sunscreens.

The moisturiser at night time around tretinoin is LRP Toleriane which is much heavier and shinier.

When I write it out, it seems laborious, but it’s honestly a 2 minute job twice per day.

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#16

That is fantastic and thanks for sharing. I LOVE seeing what others do!

In my tret formula, I have the option to combine it with niacinamide or azelaic acid. I googled and chose niacinamide. Incase there is something for me to learn, I’m curious what was behind your rationale to choose azelaic. (I’m sure our skin is entirely different!)

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