This 15min podcast is improving my life
I have only recently discovered it and it is *brilliant*
Hi! This is Leyla from A Day Well Spent, a newsletter seeking pathways to more purposeful living.
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Do this, don’t do that
I often badger my parents in our family WhatsApp chat about things they could be doing to help them lead long and healthy lives.
- Lift weights to prevent falls and reverse the signs of aging!
- Ditch Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs) to ward off dementia!
- Invest in a filter that removes ‘forever chemicals’ from tap water so you don’t get cancer!
Perhaps it’s sometimes felt as nagging. But I just want them to be around and independent for as long as possible, it all comes from a place of love.
My Dad enjoys receiving these titbits of recently learnt insights from my brother and I and often acts on them. For example, he started making his own kefir once he understood how easy it is to do and the numerous benefits eating fermented foods has on both physical and mental health.
Now he enjoys kefir every day without fail. Which is so awesome!
My Mum, on the other hand, doesn’t take well to dispensed advice, whether it comes from a scientist, professional or otherwise. The more that people suggest ways she could improve her health and wellbeing – for example, how to bolster her immune system to prevent her catching colds so frequently – the more her defences go up.
(as someone who’s had one cold in almost 2 years, I wrote How to not catch a cold to help answer exactly this)
“I’m a little fed up with it all, don’t eat this, don’t drink this, don’t and don’t and don’t… I do what makes me happy and will never listen to anyone else about anything…”
— my Mum in recent weeks
Don’t wait for things to go wrong before taking action
I totally get it. There is so much information out there about what you ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’ be doing, it can be overwhelming. It’s often also contradictory.
And if you’ve been lucky enough to suffer from few ailments so far in life, why change anything at all?
The answer to that for me is simple: why only wait for something to go wrong before acting? Prevention is always better (and cheaper) than cure.
One of the common threads of this newsletter is self-empowerment and personal growth, which, along with many other aspects of life, can be applied to our health. I am of the opinion that if you have the knowledge, means and ability to better your current and future health situation (remember ‘do it for your future self’?), why wouldn’t you?
Enter onto the scene my new (to me) favourite podcast, which provides digestible nuggets of scientifically proven wisdom for easy ways to do exactly this — to improve your life.
I have only recently discovered this podcast; it is — in a word — brilliant.
A podcast that has genuinely changed lives
The premise of it is this: we all want to live healthier and better lives but with an overload of information, it can be hard to know what we should really be doing, especially if we’re tight on time.
It’s made up of short 15 minute episodes. In each one, one simple and often surprising thing we can do to benefit our brains and our bodies is investigated, including speaking to the scientist behind the research, as well as a willing volunteer who gives the thing a go for a week or so.
Things like how the exercise trick of walking backwards can enhance your balance, reduce your waistline and alleviate lower back pain. Or how changing your meal times can boost metabolism, reduce weight and improve sleep.
And so much more.
There is a treasure trove of 70 of these bite-sized listens
And I’ve been swallowing them whole.
They cover topics ranging from food and movement, to mental health and sleep, to good habits and hobbies. What I particularly love is that you can scroll through the 70 episode titles and cherry-pick the ones that take your fancy, rather than feeling like you’re being ‘badgered’ by lots of info.
But I have been ploughing through the lot! My body is my best friend so I want to hear about all the easy ways I could help it out for now and the future. I’m doing so on a playback speed of x1.5 which means each one takes just 10 minutes to listen to.
They are delightful chunks of dazzling, doable and scientifically backed ways we can better our bodies and our lives, that anyone can understand. I’ve been telling everyone I know to listen to them (and now I’m telling you).
I think it’s one of the smartest and most appealing formats for a health and wellbeing podcast I’ve come across. I think it could even win over my Mum. The podcast is: