Category: Persuasion

A plant that lowers “bad” cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease.

Beneforte broccoli, or ‘super broccoli’, is a type of broccoli that has been bred to increase glucoraphanin levels by three times.

Glucoraphanin naturally occurs in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower.

Several studies have shown that diets rich in cruciferous vegetables help lower the risk of cancer and heart disease.

A recent study suggests that super broccoli can lower levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol by 6 percent.

To test the effect of super broccoli, researchers gave participants either 400g of standard broccoli or super broccoli weekly for a period of three months.

These volunteers were not on any dietary restrictions and they just added the vegetable to their normal diet for 12 weeks.

After three months, the blood LDL cholesterol levels or the “bad” cholesterol was decreased 6 percent on average.

High LDL levels are a heart disease risk factor as it can result in buildup of cholesterol in the arteries.

Despite the small but significant reduction of LDL in this study, in reality, even a 1 percent reduction in LDL cholesterol has been shown to lower the risk of coronary artery disease by 2 percent.

Glucoraphanin helps our body to improve cellular metabolism, where sugar, protein and fat is converted into energy.

If this process doesn’t work properly, then the food that we eat turns to lots of fat or sugar, leading to elevated blood cholesterol levels.

Our body converts glucoraphanin to an active compound called sulphoraphane that activate the specific genes known as  ‘antioxidant’ genes.

These genes, as part of our immune system, can protect our body from many diseases and environmental toxins.

They also stimulate our bodies’ defences to adjust the metabolism and reduce LDL cholesterol production.

In addition to cruciferous vegetables, plant sterols or stanols and  beta-glucans in oats have been shown to lower LDL cholesterol, therefore eating these foods regularly could indeed benefit heart health.

The study was published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (Armah et al., 2015).

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Simple gratitude interventions have previously been found to enhance happiness, satisfaction, self-control, health and resilience.

A simple gratitude exercise helps to boost people’s motivation, a study finds.

People who listed five things to be grateful for each day over a period of six days displayed significantly increased motivation.

Despite only completing the gratitude exercise for less than a week, the boost to motivation lasted at least three months.

Simple gratitude interventions have previously been found to enhance happiness, satisfaction, self-control, health and resilience.

Dr Norberto Eiji Nawa, the study’s first author, said:

“Our main hypothesis was that engaging in an online gratitude journal by writing down up to five things one felt grateful for each day could make students be more aware of their academic opportunities–their ‘blessings’–and help them re-evaluate their motives and goals, ultimately improving their motivation.”

For the study, 84 Japanese college students were split into a control and intervention group.

Over six days, the intervention group were prompted to list five things they were grateful for.

This was done online to make it more accessible, explained Professor Noriko Yamagishi, study co-author:

“Online interventions have the advantage of being more accessible, scalable and affordable to large portions of the population.

Gathering solid evidence to support their deployment will be essential to unleash their true potential in the future.”

Students who did the gratitude exercise felt increased motivation for at least three months afterwards.

The boost was mainly driven by a reduction in helplessness and incompetence.

When the students felt that they could make a difference to their results by putting in some effort, it helped boost their motivation.

Gratitude motivates others

Not only does gratitude help motivate the self, it can also help motivate others.

When we say ‘thank you’ to others, it can also act as a powerful motivator for them to help us again.

It could be as simple as sending a thank you email when someone has helped you out.

A gratitude study found that a thank you email doubled the number of people willing to help in the future:

“…the effect of ‘thank you’ was quite substantial: while only 32% of participants receiving the neutral email helped with the second letter, when Eric expressed his gratitude, this went up to 66%.”

The study was published in the journal BMC Psychology (Nawa & Yamagishi, 2021).

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One hour of this type of singing can improve mood, immune function and more…

Singing in a choir for only one hour can improve mood, reduce stress and even boost immune proteins, a study finds.

The largest improvements in mood were seen among those suffering with the greatest level of depression and lowest mental wellbeing.

The research involved 193 people whose lives had been touched by cancer and who were members of five different choirs.

Dr Ian Lewis, one of the study’s authors, said:

“These are really exciting findings.

We have been building a body of evidence over the past six years to show that singing in a choir can have a range of social, emotional and psychological benefits, and now we can see it has biological effects too.

We’ve long heard anecdotal evidence that singing in a choir makes people feel good, but this is the first time it’s been demonstrated that the immune system can be affected by singing.

It’s really exciting and could enhance the way we support people with cancer in the future.”

Dr Daisy Fancourt, the study’s first author, said:

“Many people affected by cancer can experience psychological difficulties such as stress, anxiety and depression.

Research has demonstrated that these can suppress immune activity, at a time when patients need as much support as they can get from their immune system.

This research is exciting as it suggests that an activity as simple as singing could reduce some of this stress-induced suppression, helping to improve wellbeing and quality of life amongst patients and put them in the best position to receive treatment.”

Diane Raybould, 64, who was diagnosed with breast cancer and has been singing in a choir since 2010, said:

“Singing in the choir is about more than just enjoyment, it genuinely makes you feel better.

The choir leaders play a huge part of course, but so does the support of the other choir members, the inspirational programme and uplifting songs.

The choir is a family, simple as that.

Having cancer and losing someone to cancer can be very isolating.

With the choir, you can share experiences openly and that is hugely important.”

The study was published in the journal eCancer Medicalscience (Fancourt et al., 2016).

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People with this trait find it easier to lose weight.

Being pessimistic and self-aware is linked to greater weight loss, research finds.

People who prefer to look at the facts and to consider alternatives do better when they try to lose weight.

In contrast, those who approach weight loss with childish optimism are doomed to fail.

The conclusion comes from a study of 101 obese people who were given combined counselling, nutrition and exercise therapy.

The results showed that people who were optimistic at the start of the six month trial found it harder to lose weight.

However, people who successfully lost weight did become more optimistic as time went on, even if they started out pessimistic.

A second key to weight loss is self-awareness.

It is important to be aware of what triggers eating and to be gathering information about what changes are working and what are not.

The authors write:

“It is important to enhance patients’ self-effectiveness and self-control in order to reduce psychological stress and to maintain the weight loss.

The weight loss should be attributed not simply to the intervention of the clinical psychologists but to the total effect of the intervention of a holistic medical care team.”

The study was published in the journal BioPsychoSocial Medicine (Saito et al., 2009).

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A 12-minute exercise that boosts happiness and empathy while reducing anxiety.

Wishing happiness for others, and really meaning it, makes people feel happier themselves, research finds.

Instead of focusing inwards, sending loving-kindness outwards can work magic.

People who did this for just 12 minutes felt happier than those who concentrated on how they were better off than others.

It also reduced anxiety and boosted empathy.

Professor Douglas Gentile, the study’s first author, said:

“Walking around and offering kindness to others in the world reduces anxiety and increases happiness and feelings of social connection.

It’s a simple strategy that doesn’t take a lot of time that you can incorporate into your daily activities.”

For the study, young people were split into three different groups and each tried a different strategy for feeling happier:

• Loving-kindness: looking at others and sincerely wishing them happiness.
• Interconnectedness: considering people’s connections to each other.
• Comparing oneself favourably to others: thinking about how one is better off than other people.

All were compared to a control group.

The results showed that people who practiced loving-kindness felt happier themselves, were less anxious and more caring and empathetic.

In contrast, those who compared themselves to others felt less caring, connected and empathetic.

Dr Dawn Sweet, study co-author, explained:

“At its core, downward social comparison is a competitive strategy.

That’s not to say it can’t have some benefit, but competitive mindsets have been linked to stress, anxiety and depression.”

Loving-kindness is effective, whatever your personality type, Lanmiao He, study co-author, said:

“This simple practice is valuable regardless of your personality type.

Extending loving-kindness to others worked equally well to reduce anxiety, increase happiness, empathy and feelings of social connection.”

Social media tends to encourage social comparisons, said Professor Gentile:

“It is almost impossible not to make comparisons on social media.

Our study didn’t test this, but we often feel envy, jealousy, anger or disappointment in response to what we see on social media, and those emotions disrupt our sense of well-being.”

The study was published in the Journal of Happiness Studies (Gentile et al., 2019).

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Episode 1782 Scott Adams: What Do Kim Kardashian, Alex Jones and Adam Schiff Have In Common?

Content:

• A universal pronoun suggestion
• Military Industrial News Complex
• Commonality: Alex Jones, Adam Schiff, Kim Kardashian
• Biden blames the oil industry?
• Lawyers caused all the J6 problems…legally
• Democrats red flag gun control law
• If you would like to enjoy this same content plus bonus content from Scott Adams, including micro-lessons on lots of useful topicsto build your talent stack, please see scottadams.locals.com for full access to that secret treasure.

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Episode 1783 Scott Adams PART1: The News Is Weird But So Are We. Come Join Us

Content:

• Germany’s gas shortage
• Mark Cuban’s online pharmacy startup
• People who knew the election was fair
• Why are some news stories not about trans community?
• Ethan Klein vs Jordan Peterson on Ellen Page’s breasts
• Alameda county STILL requires masks
• If you would like to enjoy this same content plus bonus content from Scott Adams, including micro-lessons on lots of useful topicsto build your talent stack, please see scottadams.locals.com for full access to that secret treasure.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Episode 1783 Scott Adams PART2: The News Is Weird But So Are We. Come Join Us

Content:

• Germany’s gas shortage
• Mark Cuban’s online pharmacy startup
• People who knew the election was fair
• Why are some news stories not about trans community?
• Ethan Klein vs Jordan Peterson on Ellen Page’s breasts
• Alameda county STILL requires masks
• If you would like to enjoy this same content plus bonus content from Scott Adams, including micro-lessons on lots of useful topicsto build your talent stack, please see scottadams.locals.com for full access to that secret treasure.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The researchers used some neat tricks to change people’s perception of the task.

People start a task sooner when they believe it is part of their present, research finds.

So, the key to avoiding procrastination is moving a task from feeling like part of the future to feeling like part of the present.

In the study, the researchers used some neat tricks to make people think a task was part of the present or part of the future.

In one, they gave some participants an assignment on the 24th of April, giving them five days to complete it.

Other participants were given the same five days to complete it, but were not given it until the 28th of April — so that the deadline fell in May.

People in the first group had the feeling the task was part of their present and so they were more likely to begin it.

Those in the second group felt it was part of May so were less likely to begin.

Remember, both groups had the same time — five days — so it was just the perception that caused some people to drag their feet.

Dr Yanping Tu, the study’s first author, said:

“The key step in getting things done is getting started.

If you never get started, you can’t possibly finish.

But that urgency, that need to actually work on a task, happens when that task is seen as part of a person’s present.”

The trick with starting any new project is to choose the easiest and/or most enjoyable part of it and do that.

Any way you can sucker yourself into starting will drag the task into your present and kick start your motivation.

The study was published in the Journal of Consumer Research (Tu & Soman et al., 2014).

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