Keep Inflammation At Bay

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The 10almonds Team

How to Prevent (or Reduce) Inflammation

You asked us to do a main feature on inflammation, so here we go!

Before we start, it’s worth noting an important difference between acute and chronic inflammation:

  • Acute inflammation is generally when the body detects some invader, and goes to war against it. This (except in cases such as allergic responses) is usually helpful.
  • Chronic inflammation is generally when the body does a civil war. This is almost never helpful.

We’ll be tackling the latter, which frees up your body’s resources to do better at the former.

First, the obvious…

These five things are as important for this as they are for most things:

  1. Get a good diet—the Mediterranean diet is once again a top-scorer
  2. Exercise—move and stretch your body; don’t overdo it, but do what you reasonably can, or the inflammation will get worse.
  3. Reduce (or ideally eliminate) alcohol consumption. When in pain, it’s easy to turn to the bottle, and say “isn’t this one of red wine’s benefits?” (it isn’t, functionally*). Alcohol will cause your inflammation to flare up like little else.
  4. Don’t smoke—it’s bad for everything, and that goes for inflammation too.
  5. Get good sleep. Obviously this can be difficult with chronic pain, but do take your sleep seriously. For example, invest in a good mattress, nice bedding, a good bedtime routine, etc.

*Resveratrol (which is a polyphenol, by the way), famously found in red wine, does have anti-inflammatory properties. However, to get enough resveratrol to be of benefit would require drinking far more wine than will be good for your inflammation or, indeed, the rest of you. So if you’d like resveratrol benefits, consider taking it as a supplement. Superficially it doesn’t seem as much fun as drinking red wine, but we assure you that the results will be much more fun than the inflammation flare-up after drinking.

About the Mediterranean Diet for this…

There are many causes of chronic inflammation, but here are some studies done with some of the most common ones:

*Type 1 diabetes is a congenital autoimmune disorder, as the pancreas goes to war with itself. Type 2 diabetes is different, being a) acquired and b) primarily about insulin resistance, and/but this is related to chronic inflammation regardless. It is also possible to have T1D and go on to develop insulin resistance, and that’s very bad, and/but beyond the scope of today’s newsletter, in which we are focusing on the inflammation aspects.

Some specific foods to eat or avoid…

Eat these:

  • Leafy greens
  • Cruciferous vegetables
  • Tomatoes
  • Fruits in general (berries in particular)
  • Healthy fats, e.g. olives and olive oil
  • Almonds and other nuts
  • Dark chocolate (choose high cocoa, low sugar)

Avoid these:

  • Processed meats (absolute worst offenders are hot dogs, followed by sausages in general)
  • Red meats
  • Sugar (includes most fruit juices, but not most actual fruits—the difference with actual fruits is they still contain plenty of fiber, and in many cases, antioxidants/polyphenols that reduce inflammation)
  • Dairy products (unless fermented, in which case it seems to be at worst neutral, sometimes even a benefit, in moderation)
  • White flour (and white flour products, e.g. white bread, white pasta, etc)
  • Processed vegetable oils

See also: 9 Best Drinks To Reduce Inflammation, Says Science

Supplements?

Some supplements that have been found to reduce inflammation include:

(links are to studies showing their efficacy)

Consider Intermittent Fasting

Remember when we talked about the difference between acute and chronic inflammation? It’s fair to wonder “if I reduce my inflammatory response, will I be weakening my immune system?”, and the answer is: generally, no.

Often, as with the above supplements and dietary considerations, reducing inflammation actually results in a better immune response when it’s actually needed! This is because your immune system works better when it hasn’t been working in overdrive constantly.

Here’s another good example: intermittent fasting reduces the number of circulating monocytes (a way of measuring inflammation) in healthy humans—but doesn‘t compromise antimicrobial (e.g. against bacteria and viruses) immune response.

See for yourself: Dietary Intake Regulates the Circulating Inflammatory Monocyte Pool ← the study is about the anti-inflammatory effects of fasting

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  • Longevity Noodles

    The 10almonds Team

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Noodles may put the “long” into “longevity”, but most of the longevity here comes from the ergothioneine in the mushrooms! The rest of the ingredients are great too though, including the noodles themselves—soba noodles are made from buckwheat, which is not a wheat, nor even a grass (it’s a flowering plant), and does not contain gluten*, but does count as one of your daily portions of grains!

    *unless mixed with wheat flour—which it shouldn’t be, but check labels, because companies sometimes cut it with wheat flour, which is cheaper, to increase their profit margin

    You will need

    • 1 cup (about 9 oz; usually 1 packet) soba noodles
    • 6 medium portobello mushrooms, sliced
    • 3 kale leaves, de-stemmed and chopped
    • 1 shallot, chopped, or ¼ cup chopped onion of any kind
    • 1 carrot, diced small
    • 1 cup peas
    • ½ bulb garlic, minced
    • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
    • 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
    • 1 tsp black pepper, coarse ground
    • 1 tsp red chili flakes
    • ½ tsp MSG or 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
    • Avocado oil, for frying (alternatively: extra virgin olive oil or cold-pressed coconut oil are both perfectly good substitutions)

    Method

    (we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

    1) Cook the soba noodles per the packet instructions, rinse, and set aside

    2) Heat a little oil in a skillet, add the shallot, and cook for about 2 minutes.

    3) Add the carrot and peas and cook for 3 more minutes.

    4) Add the mushrooms, kale, garlic, ginger, peppers, and vinegar, and cook for 1 more minute, stirring well.

    5) Add the noodles, as well as the MSG or low-sodium soy sauce, and cook for yet 1 more minute.

    6) Serve!

    Enjoy!

    Want to learn more?

    For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

    Take care!

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  • 4 Critical Things Female Runners Should Know

    The 10almonds Team

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    When it comes to keeping up performance in the face of menopause, Shona Hendricks has advice:

    Don’t let menopause run you down

    1. Prioritize recovery! Overtraining without adequate recovery just leads to decreased performance in the long term, and remember, you may not recover as quickly as you used to. If you’re still achey from your previous run, give it another day, or at least make it a lighter run.
    2. Slow down in easy and long runs! This isn’t “taking the easy way out”; it will improve your overall performance, reducing muscle damage, allowing for quicker recovery and ultimately better fitness gains.
    3. Focus on nutrition! And that means carbs too. A lot of people fighting menopausal weight gain reduce their intake of food, but without sufficient energy availability, you will not be able to run well. In particular, carbohydrates are vital for energy. Consume them sensibly and with fiber and proteins and fats rather than alone, but do consume them.
    4. Incorporate strength training! Your run is not “leg day” by itself. Furthermore, do whole-body strength training, to prevent injuries and improve overall performance. A strong core is particularly important.

    For more on each of these (and some bonus comments about mobility training for runners), enjoy:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like to read:

    Take care!

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  • Dopamine Nation – by Dr. Anna Lembke

    The 10almonds Team

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    We live in an age of abundance, though it often doesn’t feel like it. Some of that is due to artificial scarcity, but a lot of it is due to effectively whiting out our dopamine circuitry through chronic overuse.

    Psychiatrist Dr. Anna Lembke explores the neurophysiology of pleasure and pain, and how each can (and does) lead to the other. Is the answer to lead a life of extreme neutrality? Not quite.

    Rather, simply by being more mindful of how we seek each (yes, both pleasure and pain), we can leverage our neurophysiology to live a better, healthier life—and break/avoid compulsive habits, while we’re at it.

    That said, the book itself is quite compelling reading, but as Dr. Lembke shows us, that certainly doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

    Bottom line: if you sometimes find yourself restlessly cycling through the same few apps (or TV channels) looking for dopamine that you’re not going to find there, this is the book for you.

    Click here to check out Dopamine Nation, and get a handle on yours!

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  • Treat Your Own Knee – by Robin McKenzie

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The 10almonds Team

    First, a note about the author: he’s a physiotherapist and not a doctor, but with 40 years of practice to his name and 33 letters after his name (CNZM OBE FCSP (Hon) FNZSP (Hon) Dip MDT Dip MT), he seems to know his stuff.

    The book covers recognizing the difference between arthritis, degeneration, or normal wear and tear, before narrowing down what your actual problem is and what can be done about it.

    While there are many possible causes of knee pain (and by causes, we mean the first-level cause, such as “bad posture” or “old sports injury” or “inflammatory diet” or “repetitive strain” etc, not second-level causes that are also symptoms, like inflammation), McKenzie’s approach involves customizing his system to your body’s specific problems and needs. That’s what most of the book is about.

    The style is direct and to-the-point; there’s no sensationalization here nor a feel of being sold anything. There’s lots of science scattered throughout, but all with the intent of enabling the reader to understand what’s going on with the problems, processes, and solutions, and why/how the things that work, work. Where there are exercises offered they are clearly-described and well-illustrated.

    Bottom line: this is not a fancy book but it is an effective one. If you have knee pain, this is a very worthwhile one to read.

    Click here to check out Treat Your Own Knee, and treat your own knee!

    PS: if you have musculoskeletal problems elsewhere in your body, you might want to check out the rest of his body parts series (back, hip, neck, wrist, ankle, etc) for the one that’s tailored to your specific problem.

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  • How Likely Are You To Live To 100?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The 10almonds Team

    How much hope can we reasonably have of reaching 100?

    Yesterday, we asked you: assuming a good Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL), how much longer do you hope to live?

    We got the above-depicted, below-described, set of responses:

    • A little over 38% of respondents hope to live another 11–20 years
    • A little over 31% hope to live another 31–40 years
    • A little over 7% will be content to make it to the next decade
    • One (1) respondent hopes to live longer than an additional 100 years

    This is interesting when we put it against our graph of how old our subscribers are:

    …because it corresponds inversely, right down to the gap/dent in the 40s. And—we may hypothesize—that one person under 18 who hopes to live to 120, perhaps.

    This suggests that optimism remains more or less constant, with just a few wobbles that would probably be un-wobbled with a larger sample size.

    In other words: most of our education-minded, health-conscious subscriber-base hope to make it to the age of 90-something, while for the most part feeling that 100+ is overly optimistic.

    Writer’s anecdote: once upon a time, I was at a longevity conference in Brussels, and a speaker did a similar survey, but by show of hands. He started low by asking “put your hands up if you want to live at least a few more minutes”. I did so, with an urgency that made him laugh, and say “Don’t worry; I don’t have a gun hidden up here!”

    Conjecture aside… What does the science say about our optimism?

    First of all, a quick recap…

    To not give you the same information twice, let’s note we did an “aging mythbusting” piece already covering:

    • Aging is inevitable: True or False?
    • Aging is, and always will be, unstoppable: True or False?
    • We can slow aging: True or False?
    • It’s too early to worry about… / It’s too late to do anything about… True or False?
    • We can halt aging: True or False?
    • We can reverse aging: True or False?
    • But those aren’t really being younger, we’ll still die when our time is up: True or False?

    You can read the answers to all of those here:

    Age & Aging: What Can (And Can’t) We Do About It?

    Now, onwards…

    It is unreasonable to expect to live past 100: True or False?

    True or False, depending on your own circumstances.

    First, external circumstances: the modal average person in Hong Kong is currently in their 50s and can expect to live into their late 80s, while the modal average person in Gaza is 14 and may not expect to make it to 15 right now.

    To avoid extremes, let’s look at the US, where the modal average person is currently in their 30s and can expect to live into their 70s:

    United States Mortality Database

    Now, before that unduly worries our many readers already in their 70s…

    Next, personal circumstances: not just your health, but your socioeconomic standing. And in the US, one of the biggest factors is the kind of health insurance one has:

    SOA Research Institute | Life Expectancy Calculator 2021

    You may note that the above source puts all groups into a life expectancy in the 80s—whereas the previous source gave 70s.

    Why is this? It’s because the SOA, whose primary job is calculating life insurance risks, is working from a sample of people who have, or are applying for, life insurance. So it misses out many people who die younger without such.

    New advances in medical technology are helping people to live longer: True or False?

    True, assuming access to those. Our subscribers are mostly in North America, and have an economic position that affords good access to healthcare. But beware…

    On the one hand:

    The number of people who live past the age of 100 has been on the rise for decades

    On the other hand:

    The average life expectancy in the U.S. has been on the decline for three consecutive years

    COVID is, of course, largely to blame for that, though:

    ❝The decline of 1.8 years in life expectancy was primarily due to increases in mortality from COVID-19 (61.2% of the negative contribution).

    The decline in life expectancy would have been even greater if not for the offsetting effects of decreases in mortality due to cancer (43.1%)❞

    Source: National Vital Statistics Reports

    The US stats are applicable to Canada, the UK, and Australia: True or False?

    False: it’s not quite so universal. Differences in healthcare systems will account for a lot, but there are other factors too:

    Here’s an interesting (UK-based) tool that calculates not just your life expectancy, but also gives the odds of living to various ages (e.g. this writer was given odds of living to 87, 96, 100).

    Check yours here:

    Office of National Statistics | Life Expectancy Calculator

    To finish on a cheery note…

    Data from Italian centenarians suggests a “mortality plateau”:

    ❝The risk of dying leveled off in people 105 and older, the team reports online today in Science.

    That means a 106-year-old has the same probability of living to 107 as a 111-year-old does of living to 112.

    Furthermore, when the researchers broke down the data by the subjects’ year of birth, they noticed that over time, more people appear to be reaching age 105.❞

    Pop-sci source: Once you hit this age, aging appears to stop

    Actual paper: The plateau of human mortality: demography of longevity pioneers

    Take care!

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  • Goat Milk Greek Yogurt vs Almond Milk Greek Yogurt – Which is Healthier?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The 10almonds Team

    Our Verdict

    When comparing goat milk yogurt to almond milk yogurt, we picked the almond milk yogurt.

    Why?

    Surprised? Honestly, we were too!

    Much as we love almonds, we were fully expecting to write about how they’re very close in nutritional value, but the dairy yogurt has more probiotics, but no, as it turns out when we looked into them, they’re quite comparable in that regard.

    It’s easy to assume “goat milk yogurt is more natural and therefore healthier”, but in both cases, it was a case of taking a fermentable milk, and fermenting it (an ancient process). “But almond milk is a newfangled thing”, well, new-ish…

    So what was the deciding factor?

    In this case, the almond milk yogurt has about twice the protein per (same size) serving, compared to the goat milk; all the other macros are about the same, and the micronutrients are similar. Like many plant-based milks and yogurts, this one is fortified with calcium and vitamin D, so that wasn’t an issue either.

    In short: the only meaningful difference was the protein, and the almond came out on top.

    However!

    The almond came out on top only because it is strained; this can be done (or not) with any kind of yogurt, be it from an animal or a plant. 

    In other words: if it had been different brands, the goat milk yogurt could have come out on top!

    The take-away idea here is: always read labels, because as you’ve just seen, even we can get surprised sometimes!

    seriously if you only remember one thing from this today, make it the above

    Other thing worth mentioning: yogurts, and dairy products in general, are often made with common allergens (e.g. dairy, nuts, soy, etc). So if you are allergic or intolerant, obviously don’t choose the one to which you are allergic or intolerant.

    That said… If you are lactose-intolerant, but not allergic, goat’s milk does have less lactose than cow’s milk. But of course, you know your limits better than we can in this regard.

    Want to try some?

    Amazon is not coming up with the goods for this one (or anything even similar, at time of writing), so we recommend trying your local supermarket (and reading labels, because products vary widely!)

    What you’re looking for (be it animal- or plant-based):

    • Live culture probiotic bacteria
    • No added sugar
    • Minimal additives in general
    • Lastly, check out the amounts for protein, calcium, vitamin D, etc.

    Enjoy!

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