Sweet Dreams Are Made of THC (Or Are They?)
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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’m one of those older folks that have a hard time getting 7 hrs. I know a lot of it my fault…like a few beers at nite…🥰am now trying THC gummies for anxiety, instead of alcohol……less calories 😁how does THC affect our sleep,? Safer than alcohol…..I know your next article 😊😊😊😊❣️😊alot of us older kids do take gummies 😲😲😲thank you❞
Great question! We wrote a little about CBD gummies (not THC) before:
…and went on to explore THC’s health benefits and risks here:
For starters, let’s go ahead and say: you’re right that it’s safer (for most people) than alcohol—but that’s not a strong claim, because alcohol is very bad for pretty much everything, including sleep.
So how does THC measure up when it comes to sleep quality?
Good news: it affects the architecture of sleep in such a way that you will spend longer in deep sleep (delta wave activity), which means you get more restorative and restful sleep!
See also: Alpha, beta, theta: what are brain states and brain waves? And can we control them?
Bad news: it does so at the cost of reducing your REM sleep, which is also necessary for good brain health, and will cause cognitive impairment if you skip too much. Normally, if you are sleep-deprived, the brain will prioritize REM sleep at the cost of other kinds of sleep; it’s that important. However, if you are chemically impaired from getting healthy REM sleep, there’s not much your brain can do to save you from the effects of REM sleep loss.
See: Cannabis, Cannabinoids, and Sleep: a Review of the Literature
This is, by the way, a reason that THC gets prescribed for some sleep disorders, in cases where the initial sleep disruption was because of nightmares, as it will reduce those (along with any other dreams, as collateral damage):
One thing to be careful of if using THC as a sleep aid is that withdrawal may make your symptoms worse than they were to start with:
Updates in the use of cannabis for insomnia
With all that in mind, you might consider (if you haven’t already tried it) seeing whether CBD alone improves your sleep, as while it does also extend time in deep sleep, it doesn’t reduce REM nearly as much as THC does:
👆 this study was paid for by the brand being tested, so do be aware of potential publication bias. That’s not to say the study is necessarily corrupt, and indeed it probably wasn’t, but rather, the publication of the results was dependent on the company paying for them (so hypothetically they could have pulled funding from any number of other research groups that didn’t get the results they wanted, leaving this one to be the only one published). That being said, the study is interesting, which is why we’ve linked it, and it’s a good jumping-off-point for finding a lot of related papers, which you can see listed beneath it.
CBD also has other benefits of its own, even without THC:
CBD Oil: What Does The Science Say?
Take care!
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Bamboo Shoots vs Cucumber – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing bamboo shoots to cucumber, we picked the bamboo shoots.
Why?
This one’s quite clear-cut:
In terms of macros, bamboo has more than 4x the fiber and more than 4x the protein, for slightly more carbs. A clear win for bamboo.
In the category of vitamins, bamboo has more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, B9, C, and E, while cucumber has more of vitamins A, B5, and K. Another easy win for bamboo.
When it comes to minerals, bamboo has more copper, iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while cucumber has more magnesium. One more win for bamboo.
Adding up the sections makes a clear overall win for bamboo, but by all means enjoy either or both; diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
What’s Your Plant Diversity Score?
Enjoy!
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Apricot vs Guava – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing apricot to guava, we picked the guava.
Why?
Both are great, but…
In terms of macros, guava has nearly 3x the fiber, very slightly more carbs, and nearly 3x the protein, winning this round.
In the category of vitamins, apricot has more of vitamins A, E, and K, while guava has more of vitamins B1, B3, B5, B6, B9, C, and choline, winning another round.
Looking at minerals, apricot has more iron, while guava has more calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc, winning its third round in a row.
In other considerations, apricot does have some cancer-fighting biochemical properties beyond what guava is known to have (which latter is just: fruit is general is healthy food that will help fight cancer), so that’s a point in apricot’s favor.
Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for guava, but by all means do enjoy either or both; diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Top 8 Fruits That Prevent & Kill Cancer
Enjoy!
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Technology: Good Or Bad For Brain Health In Later Life?
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The word “screentime” isn’t usually associated with anything positive. We all use apps to try to limit it, we all read articles telling us about how it hurts teenagers’ sleep and damages toddlers’ development.
Now, it could be that the tech isn’t really to blame. This writer certainly remembers staying up late as a child without modern tech to blame! Perhaps you (dear reader) did the same.
The case against tech
There are several main potential problems:
- Passive screentime is not the same as active engagement. Watching TV shows or scrolling social media in search of dopamine that one won’t find there, is not the same as, say, reading a health science article from your favorite health science newsletter 😉
- See also: Short- and Long-Term Effects of Passive and Active Screen Time on Young Children’s Phonological Memory ← yes, it’s about children, but honestly, scouring PubMed for studies into screentime and older adults mostly just brings up studies about kids
- Increased use of omnipresent technology (especially apps with notifications or that one can constantly refresh to get more content) means increased distractibility
- Decreased use of one’s own brain (as we can automate many things with technology) means losing those cognitive abilities to a greater or lesser degree.
However! We can mitigate each of those:
- Engage with our technology actively, and thus make it a cognitively stimulating activity; this means doing things that challenge us cognitively. It doesn’t have to mean hard stuff, but it does have to be the kind of thing we couldn’t do while half-asleep.
- Consciously decide our technology’s access to us. For example, this writer has her phone silenced 100% of the time, and only allows a very few apps to give even silent notifications, and there are set hours when her phone goes completely untouched.
- Decide what cognitive abilities we don’t care to maintain. You may be thinking “but surely, all our cognitive abilities are important!”, but… Are they? Is it truly critical for you to be able to do mental arithmetic rather than use a calculator? Do you really need to know how to spell “necessary eligibility embarrassment privilege”? Do you really need to know (by heart) your friend’s phone number? And, maybe you do! We all lead different lives, after all. But it may well be that there’s some merit to be found in picking your battles. This writer with dyscalculia (numerical equivalent of dyslexia) will use a calculator to do very simple calculations sometimes, for me it’s better to not waste my time expending a lot of mental energy on simple sums that I might still get wrong, and use that time and energy on more productive things. Perhaps you have a similar area of cognitive function that it makes sense for you to offload.
The case for tech
Much more research has been done into how technology use affects developing brains, than on how technology use affects aging brains.
But “less” is not “none”, so…
Our technology enables our connection to other people. It’s often viewed as the opposite, “people don’t know how to have a conversation these days; they’re all on their phones”, but before that it was radios, before that, newspapers/magazines; there’s always been something.
But, phones were originally designed to connect humans to other humans, and that remains their principal function, in various ways.
And this is critical, because a lack of social connection is one of the highest predictors of cognitive decline:
See for example: Late-life social activity and subsequent risk of dementia and mild cognitive impairment
Plus, even on the less social side of things, technology can also help us to stay independent for longer:
How can technology support ageing in place in healthy older adults? A systematic review
…which again, beyond the obvious immediate health-related quality of life differences, has an impact on maintenance of cognitive functions.
See further: A meta-analysis of technology use and cognitive aging
Want to learn more?
Check out:
How To Make Social Media Work For Your Mental Health
Take care!
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- Passive screentime is not the same as active engagement. Watching TV shows or scrolling social media in search of dopamine that one won’t find there, is not the same as, say, reading a health science article from your favorite health science newsletter 😉
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Tricks For Daily Life: The Art of Being Unflappable
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From Stoicism to CBT, thinkers through the ages have sought the unflappable life.
Today, in true 10almonds fashion, we’re going to distil it down to some concentrated essentials that we can all apply in our daily lives:
The Trickiest & Most Common/Impactful Cognitive Distortions To Catch (And Thus Avoid)
These are like the rhetorical fallacies with which you might be familiar (ad hominem, no true Scotsman, begging the question, tu quoque, straw man, etc), but are about what goes on between your own ears, pertaining to your own life.
If we learn about them and how to recognize them, however, we can catch them before they sabotage us, and remain “unflappable” in situations that could otherwise turn disastrous.
Let’s take a look at a few:
Catastrophizing / Crystal Ball
- Distortion: not just blowing something out of proportion, but taking an idea and running with it to its worst possible conclusion. For example, we cook one meal that’s a “miss” and conclude we are a terrible cook, and in fact for this reason a terrible housewife/mother/friend/etc, and for this reason everyone will probably abandon us and would be right to do so
- Reality: by tomorrow, you’ll probably be the only one who even remembers it happened
Mind Reading
- Distortion: attributing motivations that may or may not be there, and making assumptions about other people’s thoughts/feelings. An example is the joke about two partners’ diary entries; one is long and full of feelings about how the other is surely dissatisfied in their marriage, has been acting “off” with them all day, is closed and distant, probably wants to divorce, may be having an affair and is wondering which way to jump, and/or is just wondering how to break the news—the other partner’s diary entry is short, and reads “motorcycle won’t start; can’t figure out why”
- Reality: sometimes, asking open questions is better than guessing, and much better than assuming!
All-or-Nothing Thinking / Disqualifying the Positive / Magnifying the Negative
- Distortion: having a negative bias that not only finds a cloud in every silver lining, but stretches it out so that it’s all that we can see. In a relationship, this might mean that one argument makes us feel like our relationship is nothing but strife. In life in general, it may lead us to feel like we are “naturally unlucky”.
- Reality: those negative things wouldn’t even register as negative to us if there weren’t a commensurate positive we’ve experienced to hold them in contrast against. So, find and remember that positive too.
For brevity, we put a spotlight on (and in some cases, clumped together) the ones we think have the most bang-for-buck to know about, but there are many more.
So for the curious, here’s some further reading:
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What families should know about whooping cough
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What you need to know
- Whooping cough is a bacterial respiratory illness that can cause long-term symptoms and even death.
- Two types of vaccines protect against it: The DTap vaccine is given to babies and children up to 6 years old, while the Tdap vaccine is given to children 7 years and older and adults.
- If you or your child has symptoms of whooping cough, isolate them from vulnerable family members and seek treatment early to reduce the risk of serious illness.
Whooping cough, also called pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory illness that’s particularly dangerous for babies. Cases are now at least four times as high as they were at this time last year. Fortunately, vaccines are extremely effective at preventing the disease across age groups.
Read on to learn about the symptoms and risks of whooping cough, who should get vaccinated, and what to do when symptoms appear.What are the symptoms of whooping cough?
Early symptoms of whooping cough typically appear five to 10 days after exposure and may include a runny or stuffy nose, a low fever, and a mild cough. One to two weeks later, some people may experience extreme coughing fits that can cause shortness of breath, trouble sleeping, vomiting, fatigue, and rib fractures. These fits usually last one to six weeks, but they can last up to 10 weeks after infection.
About one in three babies under 1 year old who contract whooping cough require hospitalization, as they may experience life-threatening pauses in breathing (called apnea), pneumonia, and other complications. Children and adults who have asthma or are immunocompromised are also more likely to develop severe symptoms.
Which vaccines protect against whooping cough, and who is eligible?
Two types of vaccines protect against whooping cough: The DTap vaccine is given to babies and children up to 6 years old, while the Tdap vaccine is given to children 7 years and older and adults. Both vaccines protect against infections from diptheria, tetanus, and pertussis.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that pregnant people receive a single dose of the Tdap vaccine between 27 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, as this lowers the risk of whooping cough in babies younger than 2 months old by 78 percent.
Multiple doses are required for the best protection. Learn more about DTaP and Tdap vaccine schedules from the CDC, and talk to your health care provider about how many doses you and your children need.
What should families do when whooping cough symptoms appear?
If you or your child has symptoms of whooping cough, isolate the infected person from vulnerable family members. It’s also important to seek treatment early to reduce the risk of serious illness. Health care providers typically prescribe antibiotics to those recovering at home.
Over-the-counter cough and cold medicine is not recommended for children under 4 years old. However, limiting smoke, dust, and chemical fumes at home and using a humidifier can reduce coughing. If you are caring for someone with whooping cough who exhibits pauses in breathing or develops gray or blue skin, call 911 immediately.
For more information, talk to your health care provider.Don’t Forget…
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How Processed Is The Food You Buy, Really?
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Ultraprocessed foods are a) ubiquitous in industrialized nations b) generally not fabulous for the health. See for example:
- Eat To Beat Cancer ← skipping the ultraprocessed foods is one main point
- What To Leave Off Your Table (To Stay Off This Surgeon’s) ← have a guess
Abstaining from ultraprocessed food can also be difficult psychologically, because they are generally engineered specifically to trigger certain physiological responses, often with their combination of sweet and/or salty flavors with simple carbohydrates that will zip straight into one’s veins and feel immediately rewarding, even if there is a health price to pay later.
And worse, being habituated to ultraprocessed food can make unprocessed or minimally-processed food seem less appealing:
What causes food cravings? And what can we do about them?
Fortunately, we can reverse this, and once we get habituated to unprocessed or minimally-processed food, the ultraprocessed will start to seem like not-food to us. You will wonder: how did I ever eat that crap?
Now, one other thing to bear in mind:
There is a scale of “badness”
You might recall this article:
Not all ultra-processed foods are bad for your health, whatever you might have heard
For example, Reese’s confectionary and Huel nutrition powder are both ultra-processed, but one is definitely better than the other.
See also: Are plant-based burgers really bad for your heart? Here’s what’s behind the scary headlines
Some comparisons are obvious; others, not so much. So, how to tell the difference?
The “True Food” Scale
A large study analyzed ingredient lists, nutrition facts, and prices of over 50,000 food items from Target, Whole Foods, and Walmart. Using a rigorous statistical method, they assigned processing scores and compiled data into a giant database, with results published publicly.
You can find the study here:
Prevalence of processed foods in major US grocery stores
That in and of itself doesn’t tell a lot that’s useful to the consumer, because the paper itself does not have all of the data from all 50,000 food items, just the aggregate results, trends, implications for public health, and suggestions for public health policy.
However, what does tell a lot, is the public face of the database itself, which you can browse for free, and look up your regular shopping items, if you are wondering “are these textured soy pieces basically a step away from soy beans, or a frankenfood that will murder me in my sleep?”
How it works: it examines each food, its listed ingredients, and what is known about the processedness of such ingredients. It also draws a distinction between ingredients and additives, rendering the entire process of the production of the food into an “ingredient tree”, showing what was added to what along the way. Minimally-processed foods will have barely an ingredient sapling, while ultraprocessed foods will have an ingredient tree whose branches can barely be counted, they are so numerous. It’s not just about the number of ingredients though; it’s about the processes that each underwent.
How it represents this data: you can look at the food in the database, and it’ll tell you the ingredients and nutritional facts (which you probably knew already; it’s written on the packaging), and then show you how processed it is, and then ranking that against all other foods in the database of the same kind.
So for example, if you are looking at a pizza (have you ever noticed how some are marketed with bright flashy colors, and others in natural tones to suggest minimal processing? This is marketing, not reliable information! Sometimes the product that looks healthier, isn’t!), then it’ll give it a score reflecting how it ranks compared to all other pizze in the database. This number is out of a hundred, and it reflects the percentile into which it falls.
So for example, if the score your pizza gets is 47, then that means that if you looked at it next to 99 others, on average your pizza would would rank better than 46 of them and worse than 53 of them.
In other words, the lower the score, the less processed it is on the whole.
Here’s a side-by-side example of two cakes, one of which got a score of 3, and the other got a score of 61:
Mini No Sugar Added Cheesecake vs EDWARDS Desserts Original Whipped Cheesecake
And here is the main menu of the database, in which you can use the search function to look up the food you want to check, or else browse by category:
The TrueFood Database: Search or Browse (it’s free!)
Enjoy!
Want to know more?
You might like this book that we reviewed a little while back:
Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn’t Food – by Dr. Chris van Tulleken
Enjoy!
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