Celery vs Lettuce – Which is Healthier?

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Our Verdict

When comparing celery to lettuce, we picked the lettuce.

Why?

Let us consider the macros first: lettuce has 2x the protein, but of course the numbers are tiny and probably nobody is eating this for the protein. Both of these salad items are roughly comparable in terms of carbs and fiber, being both mostly water with just enough other stuff to hold their shape. Nominally this section is a slight win for lettuce on account of the protein, but in realistic practical terms, it’s a tie.

In terms of vitamins, celery has more of vitamins B5 and E, while lettuce has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B7, B9, C, K, and choline. An easy win for lettuce here.

In the category of minerals, celery has more calcium, copper, and potassium, while lettuce has more iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc. So, a fair win for lettuce.

Adding up the sections makes for an overall win for lettuce; of course, enjoy both, though!

Want to learn more?

You might like to read:

Why You’re Probably Not Getting Enough Fiber (And How To Fix It)

Take care!

Don’t Forget…

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Recommended

  • Apricot vs Banana – Which is Healthier?
  • Black Beans vs Pinto Beans – Which is Healthier?
    Pinto beans edge out black beans with slightly more protein, fiber, vitamins B2, B6, B9, C, E, K, and a significant lead in selenium.

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  • What happens when I stop taking a drug like Ozempic or Mounjaro?

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    Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are taking drugs like Ozempic to lose weight. But what do we actually know about them? This month, The Conversation’s experts explore their rise, impact and potential consequences.

    Drugs like Ozempic are very effective at helping most people who take them lose weight. Semaglutide (sold as Wegovy and Ozempic) and tirzepatide (sold as Zepbound and Mounjaro) are the most well known in the class of drugs that mimic hormones to reduce feelings of hunger.

    But does weight come back when you stop using it?

    The short answer is yes. Stopping tirzepatide and semaglutide will result in weight regain in most people.

    So are these medications simply another (expensive) form of yo-yo dieting? Let’s look at what the evidence shows so far.

    It’s a long-term treatment, not a short course

    If you have a bacterial infection, antibiotics will help your body fight off the germs causing your illness. You take the full course of medication, and the infection is gone.

    For obesity, taking tirzepatide or semaglutide can help your body get rid of fat. However it doesn’t fix the reasons you gained weight in the first place because obesity is a chronic, complex condition. When you stop the medications, the weight returns.

    Perhaps a more useful comparison is with high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. Treatment for hypertension is lifelong. It’s the same with obesity. Medications work, but only while you are taking them. (Though obesity is more complicated than hypertension, as many different factors both cause and perpetuate it.)

    Wegovy injections
    Obesity drugs only work while you’re taking them. KK Stock/Shutterstock

    Therefore, several concurrent approaches are needed; taking medication can be an important part of effective management but on its own, it’s often insufficient. And in an unwanted knock-on effect, stopping medication can undermine other strategies to lose weight, like eating less.

    Why do people stop?

    Research trials show anywhere from 6% to 13.5% of participants stop taking these drugs, primarily because of side effects.

    But these studies don’t account for those forced to stop because of cost or widespread supply issues. We don’t know how many people have needed to stop this medication over the past few years for these reasons.

    Understanding what stopping does to the body is therefore important.

    So what happens when you stop?

    When you stop using tirzepatide or semaglutide, it takes several days (or even a couple of weeks) to move out of your system. As it does, a number of things happen:

    • you start feeling hungry again, because both your brain and your gut no longer have the medication working to make you feel full
    CAPTION.
    When you stop taking it, you feel hungry again. Stock-Asso/Shutterstock
    • blood sugars increase, because the medication is no longer acting on the pancreas to help control this. If you have diabetes as well as obesity you may need to take other medications to keep these in an acceptable range. Whether you have diabetes or not, you may need to eat foods with a low glycemic index to stabilise your blood sugars
    • over the longer term, most people experience a return to their previous blood pressure and cholesterol levels, as the weight comes back
    • weight regain will mostly be in the form of fat, because it will be gained faster than skeletal muscle.

    While you were on the medication, you will have lost proportionally less skeletal muscle than fat, muscle loss is inevitable when you lose weight, no matter whether you use medications or not. The problem is, when you stop the medication, your body preferentially puts on fat.

    Is stopping and starting the medications a problem?

    People whose weight fluctuates with tirzepatide or semaglutide may experience some of the downsides of yo-yo dieting.

    When you keep going on and off diets, it’s like a rollercoaster ride for your body. Each time you regain weight, your body has to deal with spikes in blood pressure, heart rate, and how your body handles sugars and fats. This can stress your heart and overall cardiovascular system, as it has to respond to greater fluctuations than usual.

    Interestingly, the risk to the body from weight fluctuations is greater for people who are not obese. This should be a caution to those who are not obese but still using tirzepatide or semaglutide to try to lose unwanted weight.

    How can you avoid gaining weight when you stop?

    Fear of regaining weight when stopping these medications is valid, and needs to be addressed directly. As obesity has many causes and perpetuating factors, many evidence-based approaches are needed to reduce weight regain. This might include:

    • getting quality sleep
    • exercising in a way that builds and maintains muscle. While on the medication, you will likely have lost muscle as well as fat, although this is not inevitable, especially if you exercise regularly while taking it
    Man walks on treadmill
    Prioritise building and maintaining muscle. EvMedvedeva/Shutterstock
    • addressing emotional and cultural aspects of life that contribute to over-eating and/or eating unhealthy foods, and how you view your body. Stigma and shame around body shape and size is not cured by taking this medication. Even if you have a healthy relationship with food, we live in a culture that is fat-phobic and discriminates against people in larger bodies
    • eating in a healthy way, hopefully continuing with habits that were formed while on the medication. Eating meals that have high nutrition and fibre, for example, and lower overall portion sizes.

    Many people will stop taking tirzepatide or semaglutide at some point, given it is expensive and in short supply. When you do, it is important to understand what will happen and what you can do to help avoid the consequences. Regular reviews with your GP are also important.

    Read the other articles in The Conversation’s Ozempic series here.

    Natasha Yates, General Practitioner, PhD Candidate, Bond University

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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  • Ear Candling: Is It Safe & Does It Work?

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    Does This Practice Really Hold A Candle To Evidence-Based Medicine?

    In Tuesday’s newsletter, we asked you your opinion of ear candling, and got the above-depicted, below-described set of responses:

    • Exactly 50% said “Under no circumstances should you put things in your ear and set fire to them”
    • About 38% said “It is a safe, drug-free way to keep the ears free from earwax and pathogens”
    • About 13% said “Done correctly, thermal-auricular therapy is harmless and potentially beneficial”

    This means that if we add the two positive-to-candling answers together, it’s a perfect 50:50 split between “do it” and “don’t do it”.

    (Yes, 38%+13%=51%, but that’s because we round to the nearest integer in these reports, and more precisely it was 37.5% and 12.5%)

    So, with the vote split, what does the science say?

    First, a quick bit of background: nobody seems keen to admit to having invented this. One of the major manufacturers of ear candles refers to them as “Hopi” candles, which the actual Hopi tribe has spent a long time asking them not to do, as it is not and never has been used by the Hopi people. Other proposed origins offered by advocates of ear candling include Traditional Chinese Medicine (not used), Ancient Egypt (no evidence of such whatsoever), and Atlantis:

    Quackwatch | Why Ear Candling Is Not A Good Idea

    It is a safe, drug-free way to keep the ears free from earwax and pathogens: True or False?

    False! In a lot of cases of alternative therapy claims, there’s an absence of evidence that doesn’t necessarily disprove the treatment. In this case, however, it’s not even an open matter; its claims have been actively disproven by experimentation:

    In a medium-sized survey (n=122), the following injuries were reported:

    • 13 x burns
    • 7 x occlusion of the ear canal
    • 6 x temporary hearing loss
    • 3 x otitis externa (this also called “swimmer’s ear”, and is an inflammation of the ear, accompanied by pain and swelling)
    • 1 x tympanic membrane perforation

    Indeed, authors of one paper concluded:

    ❝Ear candling appears to be popular and is heavily advertised with claims that could seem scientific to lay people. However, its claimed mechanism of action has not been verified, no positive clinical effect has been reliably recorded, and it is associated with considerable risk.

    No evidence suggests that ear candling is an effective treatment for any condition. On this basis, we believe it can do more harm than good and we recommend that GPs discourage its use

    ~ Dr. Joy Rafferty et al.

    Source: Canadian Family Physician | Ear Candling

    Under no circumstances should you put things in your ear and set fire to them: True or False?

    True! It’s generally considered good advice to not put objects in general in your ears.

    Inserting flaming objects is a definite no-no. Please leave that for the Cirque du Soleil.

    You may be thinking, “but I have done this and suffered no ill effects”, which seems reasonable, but is an example of survivorship bias in action—it doesn’t make the thing in question any safer, it just means you were one of the one of the ones who got away unscathed.

    If you’re wondering what to do instead… Ear oils can help with the removal of earwax (if you don’t want to go get it sucked out at a clinic—the industry standard is to use a suction device, which actually does what ear candles claim to do). For information on safely getting rid of earwax, see our previous article:

    Ear Today, Gone Tomorrow

    Take care!

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  • How anti-vaccine figures abuse data to trick you

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    The anti-vaccine movement is nearly as old as vaccines themselves. For as long as humans have sought to harness our immune system’s incredible ability to recognize and fight infectious invaders, critics and conspiracy theorists have opposed these efforts. 

    Anti-vaccine tactics have advanced since the early days of protesting “unnatural” smallpox inoculation, and the rampant abuse of scientific data may be the most effective strategy yet. 

    Here’s how vaccine opponents misuse data to deceive people, plus how you can avoid being manipulated.

    Misappropriating raw and unverified safety data

    Perhaps the oldest and most well-established anti-vaccine tactic is the abuse of data from the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration maintain VAERS as a tool for researchers to detect early warning signs of potential vaccine side effects. 

    Anyone can submit a VAERS report about any symptom experienced at any point after vaccination. That does not mean that these symptoms are vaccine side effects.

    VAERS was not designed to determine if a specific vaccine caused a specific adverse event. But for decades, vaccine opponents have misinterpreted, misrepresented, and manipulated VAERS data to convince people that vaccines are dangerous. 

    Anyone relying on VAERS to draw conclusions about vaccine safety is probably trying to trick you. It isn’t possible to determine from VAERS data alone if a vaccine caused a specific health condition.

    VAERS isn’t the only federal data that vaccine opponents abuse. Originally created for COVID-19 vaccines, V-safe is a vaccine safety monitoring system that allows users to report—via text message surveys—how they feel and any health issues they experience up to a year after vaccination. Anti-vaccine groups have misrepresented data in the system, which tracks all health experiences, whether or not they are vaccine-related.

    The U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (DMED) has also become a target of anti-vaccine misinformation. Vaccine opponents have falsely claimed that DMED data reveals massive spikes in strokes, heart attacks, HIV, cancer, and blood clots among military service members since the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The spike was due to an updated policy that corrected underreporting in the previous years

    Misrepresenting legitimate studies

    A common tactic vaccine opponents use is misrepresenting data from legitimate sources such as national health databases and peer-reviewed studies. For example, COVID-19 vaccines have repeatedly been blamed for rising cancer and heart attack rates, based on data that predates the pandemic by decades. 

    A prime example of this strategy is a preliminary FDA study that detected a slight increase in stroke risk in older adults after a high-dose flu vaccine alone or in combination with the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine. The study found no “increased risk of stroke following administration of the COVID-19 bivalent vaccines.”

    Yet vaccine opponents used the study to falsely claim that COVID-19 vaccines were uniquely harmful, despite the data indicating that the increased risk was almost certainly driven by the high-dose flu vaccine. The final peer-reviewed study confirmed that there was no elevated stroke risk following COVID-19 vaccination. But the false narrative that COVID-19 vaccines cause strokes persists.

    Similarly, the largest COVID-19 vaccine safety study to date confirmed the extreme rarity of a few previously identified risks. For weeks, vaccine opponents overstated these rare risks and falsely claimed that the study proves that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe. 

    Citing preprint and retracted studies

    When a study has been retracted, it is no longer considered a credible source. A study’s retraction doesn’t deter vaccine opponents from promoting it—it may even be an incentive because retracted papers can be held up as examples of the medical establishment censoring so-called “truthtellers.” For example, anti-vaccine groups still herald Andrew Wakefield nearly 15 years after his study falsely linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism was retracted for data fraud. 

    The COVID-19 pandemic brought the lasting impact of retracted studies into sharp focus. The rush to understand a novel disease that was infecting millions brought a wave of scientific publications, some more legitimate than others. 

    Over time, the weaker studies were reassessed and retracted, but their damage lingers. A 2023 study found that retracted and withdrawn COVID-19 studies were cited significantly more frequently than valid published COVID-19 studies in the same journals. 

    In one example, a widely cited abstract that found that ivermectin—an antiparasitic drug proven to not treat COVID-19—dramatically reduced mortality in COVID-19 patients exemplifies this phenomenon. The abstract, which was never peer reviewed, was retracted at the request of its authors, who felt the study’s evidence was weak and was being misrepresented. 

    Despite this, the study—along with the many other retracted ivermectin studies—remains a touchstone for proponents of the drug that has shown no effectiveness against COVID-19.

    In a more recent example, a group of COVID-19 vaccine opponents uploaded a paper to The Lancet’s preprint server, a repository for papers that have not yet been peer reviewed or published by the prestigious journal. The paper claimed to have analyzed 325 deaths after COVID-19 vaccination, finding COVID-19 vaccines were linked to 74 percent of the deaths. 

    The paper was promptly removed because its conclusions were unsupported, leading vaccine opponents to cry censorship. 

    Applying animal research to humans

    Animals are vital to medical research, allowing scientists to better understand diseases that affect humans and develop and screen potential treatments before they are tested in humans. Animal research is a starting point that should never be generalized to humans, but vaccine opponents do just that.

    Several animal studies are frequently cited to support the claim that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous during pregnancy. These studies found that pregnant rats had adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccines. The results are unsurprising given that they were injected with doses equal to or many times larger than the dose given to humans rather than a dose that is proportional to the animal’s size. 

    Similarly, a German study on rat heart cells found abnormalities after exposure to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccine opponents falsely insinuated that this study proves COVID-19 vaccines cause heart damage in humans and was so universally misrepresented that the study’s author felt compelled to dispute the claims. 

    The author noted that the study used vaccine doses significantly higher than those administered to humans and was conducted in cultured rat cells, a dramatically different environment than a functioning human heart. 

    How to avoid being misled

    The internet has empowered vaccine opponents to spread false information with an efficiency and expediency that was previously impossible. Anti-vaccine narratives have advanced rapidly due to the rampant exploitation of valid sources and the promotion of unvetted, non-credible sources. 

    You can avoid being tricked by using multiple trusted sources to verify claims that you encounter online. Some examples of credible sources are reputable public health entities like the CDC and World Health Organization, personal health care providers, and peer-reviewed research from experts in fields relevant to COVID-19 and the pandemic. 

    Read more about anti-vaccine tactics:

    This article first appeared on Public Good News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Related Posts

  • Apricot vs Banana – Which is Healthier?
  • The Alzheimer’s Gut-Brain Connection—Caught On X-Ray!

    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’ve written before about Alzheimer’s disease (a lot), and if you’re just joining us, then a great place to start is here:

    How To Reduce Your Alzheimer’s Risk

    We’ve also written about gut health (a lot), and if you’re just joining us, then a great place to start is here:

    Make Friends With Your Gut! (Here’s Why & How)

    And as a hat trick, yes, we’ve also written (admittedly not as much) about the gut-brain connection; here’s a primer:

    The Brain-Gut Highway: A Two-Way Street

    Because of how gut microbes influence brain function, behavior, and cognition, scientists wondered whether one’s microbiome might play a role in Alzheimer’s development. Recently, scientists from Italy’s Institute of Nanotechnology, working with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), found some concrete answers:

    How gut health affects Alzheimer’s

    When the gut loses its healthy balance of bacteria, harmful bacteria (and fungi, like C. albicans, also popularly called by its first name, “Candida”) take the wheel. This problem (called “dysbiosis”) allows harmful microbes to produce toxic substances, leading to inflammation and weakening the protective barriers between the gut and brain.

    In some cases, like the aforementioned C. albicans, they’ll even put roots through your gut wall (and interact with your nervous system, and they are a common reason for sugar and alcohol cravings—your CNS has literally been hacked by a fungal colony that wants sugar (including the sugar that occurs when alcohol is broken down—and that’s without considering the fact that alcohol also kills several of C. albicans competitors that rank amongst the “good bacteria”). Suffice it to say, the holes it puts in your gut wall aren’t great for the health either.

    In any case, once the gut barrier is breached, it’s been hypothesized that harmful bacteria may even travel to the brain, triggering Alzheimer’s.

    How the x-rays helped

    To better understand gut changes in Alzheimer’s, scientists used a technique called nano- and micro- x-ray phase-contrast tomography (XPCT) at the aforementioned ESRF. That very fancy string of words refers to a commensurately powerful imaging method, which allows researchers to see detailed structures inside the gut without damaging tissue, or even adding contrast agents (like those unpleasant drinks that are sometimes required to be taken before soft-tissue x-rays).

    The study examined gut samples from mice with Alzheimer’s (so yes, this does need to be repeated with humans, but in this case there’s no obvious reason why it shouldn’t be the same).

    The scans revealed important changes in gut structures, including:

    • The tiny finger-like villi and corresponding crypts in the gut lining
    • Important cells* that help with digestion and protection
    • Neurons involved in gut function

    *e.g. Paneth cells, goblet cells, telocytes, and erythrocytes, all of whom would take more explanation than we have room for here, but suffice it to say they’re important to both digestion and correct mucus production (bearing in mind, mucus membranes are one of the main physical barriers to harmful bacteria—as humans, our conscious interactions with mucus are usually only the nuisance that occurs when we get a cold or something, but rest assured, mucus keeps us alive).

    In short, all these findings suggest (we’d say “show”, but technically cause and effect have not been proven) gut health indeed plays a crucial role in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis and pathology (i.e., how the disease begins and progresses, respectively).

    Why it matters

    To quote Dr. Alessia Cedola,

    ❝This technique represents a real breakthrough for the thorough analysis of the gut, and it could be pivotal in early detection and prognosis of the disease.

    By gaining a deeper understanding of these processes, we hope to identify new therapeutic targets and develop innovative treatments for this devastating disease.❞

    In short: the technology can be used as a super-early diagnostic tool, and ultimately, improve prevention (by encouraging people to focus on gut health) as well as, hopefully, leading to new treatments, too.

    Want to see it?

    Here’s the paper itself, where there are also abundant very clear images:

    Investigating gut alterations in Alzheimer’s disease: In-depth analysis with micro- and nano-3D X-ray phase contrast tomography

    Are you on top of your gut health already?

    If not, do refer back to that first link we dropped about gut health, up top!

    If you are already sure you’re looking after your gut and want to do something else to avoid Alzheimer’s coming to call, you might want to consider:

    How To Clean Your Brain (Glymphatic Health Primer) ← your glymphatic system, something many people neglect, is the brain’s cleanup crew, and removes things like the beta-amyloid proteins that are implicated in Alzheimer’s pathogenesis. So, it’s worth knowing how to keep it in working order!

    Take care!

    Don’t Forget…

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  • How White Is Your Tongue?

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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

    ❝So its normal to develop a white sort of coating on the tongue, right? It develops when I eat, and is able to (somewhat) easily be brushed off❞

    If (and only if) there is no soreness and the coverage of the whiteness is not extreme, then, yes, that is normal and fine.

    Your mouth has a microbiome, and it’s supposed to have one (helps keep the conditions in your mouth correct, so that food is broken down and/but your gums and teeth aren’t).

    Read more: The oral microbiome: Role of key organisms and complex networks in oral health and disease

    The whiteness you often see on a healthy tongue is, for the most part, bacteria and dead cells—harmless.

    Cleaning the whiteness off with your brush is fine. You can also scrape off with floss is similar if you prefer. Or a tongue-scraper! Those can be especially good for people for whom brushing the tongue is an unpleasant sensation. Or you can just leave it, if it doesn’t bother you.

    By the way, that microbiome is a reason it can be good to go easy on the mouthwash. Moderate use of mouthwash is usually fine, but you don’t want to wipe out your microbiome then have it taken over by unpleasantries that the mouthwash didn’t kill (unpleasantries like C. albicans).

    There are other mouthwash-related considerations too:

    Toothpastes and mouthwashes: which kinds help, and which kinds harm?

    If you start to get soreness, that probably means the papillae (little villi-like things) are inflamed. If there is soreness, and/or the whiteness is extreme, then it could be a fungal infection (usually C. albicans, also called Thrush), in which case, antifungal medications will be needed, which you can probably get over the counter from your pharmacist.

    Do not try to self-treat with antibiotics.

    Antibiotics will make a fungal infection worse (indeed, antibiotic usage is often the reason for getting fungal growth in the first place) by wiping out the bacteria that normally keep it in check.

    Other risk factors include a sugary diet, smoking, and medications that have “dry mouth” as a side effect.

    Read more: Can oral thrush be prevented?

    If you have any symptoms more exciting than the above, then definitely see a doctor.

    Take care!

    Don’t Forget…

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  • How To Leverage Placebo Effect For Yourself

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    Placebo Effect: Making Things Work Since… Well, A Very Long Time Ago

    The placebo effect is a well-known, well-evidenced factor that is very relevant when it comes to the testing and implementation of medical treatments:

    NIH | National Center for Biotechnology Information | Placebo Effect

    Some things that make placebo effect stronger include:

    • Larger pills instead of small ones: because there’s got to be more going on in there, right?
    • Thematically-colored pills: e.g. red for stimulant effects, blue for relaxing effects
    • Things that seem expensive: e.g. a well-made large heavy machine, over a cheap-looking flimsy plastic device. Similarly, medication from a small glass jar with a childproof lock, rather than popped out from a cheap blister-pack.
    • Things that seem rational: if there’s an explanation for how it works that you understand and find rational, or at least you believe you understand and find rational ← this works in advertising, too; if there’s a “because”, it lands better almost regardless of what follows the word “because”
    • Things delivered confidently by a professional: this is similar to the “argument from authority” fallacy (whereby a proposed authority will be more likely trusted, even if this is not their area of expertise at all, e.g. celebrity endorsements), but in the case of placebo trials, this often looks like a well-dressed middle-aged or older man with an expensive haircut calling for a young confident-looking aide in a lab coat to administer the medicine, and is received better than a slightly frazzled academic saying “and, uh, this one’s yours” while handing you a pill.
    • Things with ritual attached: this can be related to the above (the more pomp and circumstance is given to the administration of the treatment, the better), but it can also be as simple as an instruction on an at-home-trial medication saying “take 20 minutes before bed”. Because, if it weren’t important, they wouldn’t bother to specify that, right? So it must be important!

    And now for a quick personality test

    Did you see the above as a list of dastardly tricks to watch out for, or did you see the above as a list of things that can make your actual medication more effective?

    It’s arguably both, of course, but the latter more optimistic view is a lot more useful than the former more pessimistic one.

    Since placebo effect works at least somewhat even when you know about it, there is nothing to stop you from leveraging it for your own benefit when taking medication or doing health-related things.

    Next time you take your meds or supplements or similar, pause for a moment for each one to remember what it is and what it will be doing for you. This is a lot like the principles (which are physiological as well as psychological) of mindful eating, by the way:

    How To Get More Nutrition From The Same Food

    Placebo makes some surprising things evidence-based

    We’ve addressed placebo effect sometimes as part of an assessment of a given alternative therapy, often in our “Mythbusting Friday” edition of 10almonds.

    • In some cases, placebo is adjuvant to the therapy, i.e. it is one of multiple mechanisms of action (example: chiropractic or acupuncture)
    • In some cases, placebo is the only known mechanism of action (example: homeopathy)
    • In some cases, even placebo can’t help (example: ear candling)

    One other fascinating and far-reaching (in a potentially good way) thing that placebo makes evidence-based is: prayer

    …which is particularly interesting for something that is fundamentally faith-based, i.e. the opposite of evidence-based.

    Now, we’re a health science publication, not a theological publication, so we’ll consider actual divine intervention to be beyond the scope of mechanisms of action we can examine, but there’s been a lot of research done into the extent to which prayer is beneficial as a therapy, what things it may be beneficial for, and what factors affect whether it helps:

    Prayer and healing: A medical and scientific perspective on randomized controlled trials

    👆 full paper here, and it is very worthwhile reading if you have time, whether or not you are religious personally

    Placebo works best when there’s a clear possibility for psychosomatic effect

    We’ve mentioned before, and we’ll mention again:

    • psychosomatic effect does not mean: “imagining it”
    • psychosomatic effect means: “your brain regulates almost everything else in your body, directly or indirectly, including your autonomic functions, and especially notably when it comes to illness, your immune responses”

    So, a placebo might well heal your rash or even shrink a tumor, but it probably won’t regrow a missing limb, for instance.

    And, this is important: it’s not about how credible/miraculous the outcome will be!

    Rather, it is because we have existing pre-programmed internal bodily processes for healing rashes and shrinking tumors, that just need to be activated—whereas we don’t have existing pre-programmed internal bodily processes for regrowing a missing limb, so that’s not something our brain can just tell our body to do.

    So for this reason, in terms of what placebo can and can’t do:

    • Get rid of cancer? Yes, sometimes—because the body has a process for doing that; enjoy your remission
    • Fix a broken nail? No—because the body has no process for doing that; you’ll just have to cut it and wait for it to grow again

    With that in mind, what will you use the not-so-mystical powers of placebo for? What ever you go for… Enjoy, and take care!

    Don’t Forget…

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    Learn to Age Gracefully

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