The RoundUp: 12
In this month: some paintings and an incredible podcast.
This month started off a quite stressy-depressy, but I’m feeling much better by the end, Alhamdulillah. There were lots of emotional spirals set off by minor inconveniences. I don’t know if it’s end of year blues or what, but my mood has been very up and down. I have a stress rash which flared up a little extra this month. Upon reflection, I realized I’ve had this rash for a whole year. Over the year, the rash has grown and shrunk. It’s not painful or anything Alhamdulillah so it’s not that bothersome, but I feel like it’s presence is a testament of my lack of growth. I don’t feel like I grew this year. Sure I picked up new habits and learned new skills but I don’t feel mentally different. In part I think it’s because I’m too stubborn to let go of maladaptive daydreaming. I feel like I use it as a venting outlet, I’m trying to switch to writing for that purpose, Insha’Allah.
I really need to take my thoughts outside my head because overthinking leads me to anxiety. Hopefully writing will help with that and I also decided to draw/paint as a grounding activity. I normally only create 2-3 times a month and I realized that just wasn’t enough. I made a commitment to draw/paint everyday and that’s been much more fulfilling Alhamdulillah. I really enjoyed picking up watercolour again after a while and getting into the rhythm of drawing. It helped with the anxiety tremendously and the rash has significantly subsided. I feel like I need a near-term goal to look forward to so I’m going to try to keep up painting for the next three months, Insha’Allah. These are most of the things I made this month:
Books
I didn’t do a lot of reading this month, I just read The Self-Esteem Class by Dr. Yoon Hong Gyun. It was such a good read, and exactly what I needed right now. Someone, here on substack, shared it in their monthly reading reflection ages ago. I added to my tbr and finally came around to it, Alhamdulillah. This book was a comprehensive guide that explored different things that affect our self-love and confidence and provided simple tools to help us regain agency over ourselves. It was extremely relatable and spoke to me in a way that felt like it was Divinely sent to me.
Substack
Maneesha’s writing was also everything I needed this month! It’s all about soft girl energy and de-stressing. It encouraged me to let go a little more and embrace the slow season of life I’m in right now. I read a few of her pieces this month, this one reached me at the right time.
Podcasts
I listened to this episode on the Huberman Lab about gut health and learned a lot about the impact of processed and high-fat western diets on gut health. There was a section though that particularly perked my ears. I’ve had real conversations with people who argued that they can just take supplements to solve all their metabolic health problems and they don’t need to eat real, healthier food. Supplements can be beneficially for occasional use or short time periods but they are not replacements for real nutrients.
In this episode they discussed prebiotic supplements which are essentially purified fibres. Fibres are critical for our gut microbial diversity but purified fibres don’t achieve that. In fact, they plummet the microbial diversity because high-fat western diets already reduce the microbial diversity and taking these supplements just means those few microbes become good at using that one type of cookie cutter fibre. When we eat real foods, the range of complex carbs/fibres we’re getting is a lot higher and that encourages the microbiota to grow, adapt, and work harder, increasing their diversity. They also mentioned a study that found that layering purified fibres on top of a high-fat western diet lead to liver cancer in rats. Though this research isn’t on humans, it is evidence pointing towards the shortcomings of fibre supplements. Like I said, supplements can have short term benefits but it’s never a replacement or equal alternative for eating real food.
They shared other research that suggested with persistent western diet, it’s difficult for microbial diversity to recover and can pave the way for other metabolic diseases. But don’t worry! We can go to places like Pakistan where the street food is sure to restore a flowering microbiome in our guts! (They mentioned some research on immigrants and the contrast in gut microbiota from western vs non-western diets.) Overall, I enjoyed this episode and learned some value things which encouraged me to be a little more intentional with my gut health.
That’s all I have for this month! I’d love to know what you’ve been up, any of your grounding activities, and if you have any plans for the new year. My plans for the new year is to try to spend more meaningful time with my family. Who knows when I’ll eventually leave the nest then no longer have this opportunity, so I want to make the most of it now Insha’Allah.
Related Posts
Sugar Rush
Have you come across the sunnah to eat sweets after a meal? Me too, a Mandela Effect apparently. There are no hadith to support that this is a sunnah. Regardless, it's still customary in every culture to eat dessert after dinner (if at all).
The RoundUp: 11
I said I’d knit socks this month, which I tried to, and quickly realized that was far too advanced for me. But I was in a crafty mood and decided to crochet instead. I made a dress for my sister’s doll. I’ve never made a dress before, so the novelty of it was stimulating. I also made it without a pattern! Winging it hasn’t fared well in the past for me,…
I'm so sorry you've been feeling down lately... and most of last year. May Allah (swt) grant you ease this year and beyond. But I have to admit, I do like the new word you created -- stressy-depressy. I think I might start using it. I have a rash too at the moment. Thankfully this itching has stopped, but my skin looks like someone punched. I love your paintings! Thanks for sharing :) Also, is what you learned about supplements also true of multi-vitamins? I assume yes. I just ordered some after not taking them for weeks (mostly because I was too lazy to order them when they ran out LOL).
you mean to tell me that you made the crochet dress and hat just by learning online?! masha Allah🤲🏼