It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!

In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

So, no question/request too big or small 😎

❝I have a question about seafood as healthy, doesn’t eating shellfish contribute to gout?❞

It can do! Gout (a kind of inflammatory arthritis characterized by the depositing of uric acid crystals in joints) has many risk factors, and diet is one component, albeit certainly the most talked-about one.

First, you may be wondering: isn’t all arthritis inflammatory? Since arthritis is by definition the inflammation of joints, this is a reasonable question, but when it comes to classifying the kinds, “inflammatory” arthritis is caused by inflammation, while “non-inflammatory” arthritis (a slightly confusing name) merely has inflammation as one of its symptoms (and is caused by physical wear-and-tear). For more information, see:

• Tips For Avoiding/Managing Rheumatoid Arthritis ←inflammatory
• Tips For Avoiding/Managing Osteoarthritis ← “non-inflammatory”

As for gout specifically, top risk factors include:

• Increasing age: risk increases with age
• Being male: women do get gout, but much less often
• Hypertension: all-cause hypertension is the biggest reasonably controllable factor

There’s not a lot we can do about age (but of course, looking after our general health will tend to slow biological aging, and after all, diseases only care about the state of our body, not what the date on the calendar is).

As for sex, this risk factor is hormones, and specifically has to do with estrogen and testosterone’s very different effects on the immune system (bearing in mind that chronic inflammation is a disorder of the immune system). However, few if any men would take up feminizing hormone therapy just to lower their gout risk!

That leaves hypertension, which happily is something that we can all (barring extreme personal circumstances) do quite a bit about. Here’s a good starting point:

Hypertension: Factors Far More Relevant Than Salt

…and for further pointers:

How To Lower Your Blood Pressure (Cardiologists Explain)

As for diet specifically (and yes, shellfish):

The largest study into this (and thus, one of the top ones cited in a lot of other literature) looked at 47,150 men with no history of gout at the baseline.

So, with the caveat that their findings could have been different for women, they found:

• Eating meat in general increased gout risk
  • Narrowing down specific meats: beef, pork, and lamb were the worst offenders
• Eating seafood in general increased gout risk
  • Narrowing down specific seafoods: all seafoods increased gout risk within a similar range
  • As a specific quirk of seafoods: the risk was increased if the man had a BMI under 25
• Eating dairy in general was not associated with an increased risk of gout
  • Narrowing down specific dairy foods: low-fat dairy products such as yogurt were associated with a decreased risk of gout
• Eating purine-rich vegetables in general was not associated with an increased risk of gout
  • Narrowing down to specific purine-rich vegetables: no purine-rich vegetable was associated with an increase in the risk of gout

Dairy products were included in the study, as dairy products in general and non-fermented dairy products in particular are often associated with increased inflammation. However, the association was simply not found to exist when it came to gout risk.

Purine-rich vegetables were included in the study, as animal products highest in purines have typically been found to have the worst effect on gout. However, the association was simply not found to exist when it came to plants with purines.

You can read the full study here:

Purine-Rich Foods, Dairy and Protein Intake, and the Risk of Gout in Men

So, the short answer to your question of “doesn’t eating shellfish contribute to the risk of gout” is:

Yes, it can, but occasional consumption probably won’t result in gout unless you have other risk factors going against you.

If you’re a slim male 80-year-old alcoholic smoker with hypertension, then definitely do consider skipping the lobster, but honestly, there may be bigger issues to tackle there.

And similarly, obviously skip it if you have a shellfish allergy, and if you’re vegan or vegetarian or abstain from shellfish for religious reasons, then you can certainly live very healthily without ever having any.

See also: Do We Need Animal Products, To Be Healthy?

For most people most of the time, a moderate consumption of seafood, including shellfish if you so desire, is considered healthy.

As ever, do speak with your own doctor to know for sure, as your individual case may vary.

For reference, this question was surely prompted by the article:

Lobster vs Crab – Which is Healthier?

Take care!

Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!

In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

So, no question/request too big or small 😎

❝Is it possible for anyone to get 6-pack abs (even if genetics makes it easier or harder) and how much does it matter for health e.g. waist size etc?❞

Let’s break it down into two parts:

Is it possible for anyone to get 6-pack abs (even if genetics makes it easier or harder)?

Short answer: no

First, a quick anatomy lesson: while “abs” (abdominal muscles) are considered in the plural and indeed they are, what we see as a six-pack is actually only one muscle, the rectus abdominis, which is nestled in between other abdominal muscles that are beyond the scope of our answer here.

The reason that the rectus abdominis looks like six muscles is because there are bands of fascia (connective tissue) lying over it, so we see where it bulges between those bands.

The main difference genes make are as follows:

• Number of fascia bands (and thus the reason that some people get a four-, six-, eight-, or rarely, even ten-pack). Obviously, no amount of training can change this number, any more than doing extra bicep curls will grow you additional arms.
• Density of muscle fibers. Some people have what has been called “superathlete muscle type”, which, while prized by Olympians and other athletes, is on bodybuilding forums less glamorously called being a “hard gainer”. What this means is that muscle fibers are denser, so while training will make muscles stronger, you won’t see as much difference in size. This means that size for size, the person with this muscle type will always be stronger than someone the same size without it, but that may be annoying if you’re trying to build visible definition.
• Twitch type of muscle fibers. Some people have more fast-twitch fibers, some have more slow-twitch fibers. Fast-twitch fibers are better suited for visible abs (and, as the name suggests, quick changes between contracting and relaxing). Slow-twitch fibers are better for endurance, but yield less bulky muscles.
• Inclination to subcutaneous fat storage. This is by no means purely genetic; hormones make the biggest difference, followed by diet. But, genes are an influencing factor, and if your body fat percentage is inclined to be higher than someone else’s, then it’ll take more work to see muscle definition under that fat.

The first of those items is why our simple answer is “no”; because some people are destined to, if muscle is visible, have a four-, eight, or (rarely) ten-pack, making a six-pack unobtainable.

It’s worth noting here that while a bigger number is more highly prized aesthetically, there is literally zero difference healthwise or in terms of performance, because it’s nothing to do with the muscle, and is only about the fascia layout.

The density of muscle fibers is again purely genetic, but it only makes things easier or harder; this part’s not impossible for anyone.

The inclination to subcutaneous fat storage is by far the most modifiable factor, and the thus most readily overcome, if you feel so inclined. That doesn’t mean it will necessarily be easy! But it does mean that it’s relatively less difficult than the others.

How much does it matter for health, e.g. waist size etc?

As you may have gathered from the above, having a six-pack (or indeed a differently-numbered “pack”, if that be your genetic lot) makes no important difference to health:

• The fascia layout is completely irrelevant to health
• The muscle fiber types do make a difference to athletic performance, but not general health when at rest
• The subcutaneous fat storage is a health factor, but probably not how most people think

Healthy body fat percentages are (assuming normal hormones) in the range of 20–25% for women and 15–20% for men.

For most people, having clearly visible abs requires going below those healthy levels. For most people, that’s not optimally healthy. And those you see on magazine covers or in bodybuilding competitions are usually acutely dehydrated for the photo, which is of course not good. They will rehydrate after the shoot.

However, waist size (especially as a ratio, compared to hip size) is very important to health. This has less to do with subcutaneous fat, though, and is more to do with visceral belly fat, which goes under the muscles and thus does not obscure them:

Visceral Belly Fat & How To Lose It

One final note: fat notwithstanding, and aesthetics notwithstanding, having a strong core is very good for general health; it helps keeps one’s internal organs in place and well-protected, and improves stability, making falls less likely as we get older. Additionally, having muscle improves our metabolic base rate, which is good for our heart. Abs are just one part of core strength (the back being important too, for example), but should not be neglected.

Top-tier exercises to do include planks, and hanging leg raises (i.e. hang from some support, such as a chin-up bar, and raise your legs, which counterintuitively works your abs a lot more than your legs).

Take care!