For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering a couple questions from readers. First, is nature always relaxing and blissful? Or are there instances where being in nature is far more stressful than being indoors? Why, and what should we do about it? Second, how do I use fish sauce, and how would a parent use fish sauce to get picky kids to try (and like) new foods?
Let’s go:
Read MoreFor today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering three questions from readers. First, is erythritol, one of the more common sugar alcohols, linked to weight gain? According to a new study, it is. What should we make of the research? Next, I talk a good game about chicken livers, but there’s a new study that seems to show they’re big repositories of arsenic. Should you stop eating chicken liver? And finally, I give a few tips for improving screen clarity when working outside on your laptop in full sun.
Let’s go:
Read MoreFor today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m addressing four questions and comments from readers. First up, do I subscribe to the idea of superfoods? If so, what do I like? If no, what do I consider “super”? Next, we know that plants—house plants, garden plants, trees—can absorb pollution and release stress-lowering odors. Is there an optimal arrangement of flora to achieve these goals? After that, I address a reader comment about the dangers of eating raw liver, followed by an intrepid reader who found the reference for the sunbathing testicle study from last week.
Let’s go:
Read MoreI’ve written about extending your life by slowing down the apparent passage of time. I’ve written about some interesting predictors—but not necessarily causes—of longevity, and the common characteristics of centenarians. Today, I’m going to describe several unconventional causal means of extending your life.
I’m talking about cold, hard days, weeks, and months. Ticks on a clock. Objective measurements of time. Not just the perception of time, although that matters too.
Read MoreHumankind’s home is in the wild. It’s where we spent our formative years. Even today, well after the advent of civilization, industrialization, and computerization, almost half of humanity still lives in rural areas. That close relationship to the land is probably why green and blue spaces offer so many health benefits, like lower stress and improved immunity. Going for a hike or picnicking on the beach is much like going home.
Yet we don’t simply exist in nature. We shape it. We’ve always shaped it, from ancient Amazonians building food forests to Neanderthals offing entire herds of mammoths at a time. We start fires, systematically hunt and consume its inhabitants. We make gardens—blends of nature and culture. In effect, we impose our will.
Read MoreToday’s guest post is offered up by Katy Bowman, biomechanist and author of the bestselling Move Your DNA and her recent book, Movement Matters, which examines our sedentary culture, our personal relationship to movement, and some of the global effects of outsourcing movement. I’m happy to welcome a good friend back to Mark’s Daily Apple to share on this topic. Just in time for Earth Day this weekend…
I recently held a couple of events in New York City. A question came up a few times: How can someone who lives and operates their daily life in a big city get the nature they both need and want when they’re unable or ready to change where they live? The answer can help many people in our culture achieve a deeper relationship with nature no matter where they live.
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