The Tiniest Seeds With The Most Value

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If You’re Not Taking Chia, You’re Missing Out

Last Tuesday, we wrote about nutritional psychiatry, and the benefits of eating for one’s mental health.

You can check out Dr. Uma Naidoo’s to-dos, here:

The 6 Pillars Of Nutritional Psychiatry

In response, one of our subscribers wrote to mention:

❝Really interesting….just put chia seeds in my diet love them……taking the Drs advice.❞

~ Cindy, 10almonds subscriber

And then! On Friday, our tip at the top of the newsletter was:

Not sure how to incorporate chia seeds into your diet? It’s easier to want the benefits of their many brain-healthy (and otherwise-healthy, too) nutrients, than it is to know what to do with them necessarily, and not everyone enjoys seeds as a snack. So…

When you cook rice, throw in a tablespoon of chia seeds too. The cooking process will soften them and they won’t be texturally any different than the rice, but the nutrients will be all there.

They can also be thrown in with lentils, in the same fashion! Or oatmeal, when cooking it or making overnight oats.

We’ll be honest, it was Cindy’s comment that prompted us to suggest it. But wait! There was more to come in response:

❝You had a teaser ..on Chia seed.would of liked a article on the benefits . I’ve just discovered Chia seeds…❞

~ Cindy, 10almonds subscriber

So, Cindy, this one’s for you:

Nutritional powerhouse

First things first, these tiny seeds have a lot of nutrients. There are not many more nutrient-dense foods than this (there’s a kind of seaweed that might be a contender; we’ll have to do some research and get back to you).

Check them out:

USDA Nutritional Factsheet: Chia Seeds

So much protein and healthy fat, so many vitamins and minerals, and so many miscellaneous other micronutrients that we’d be here all day to list them (which is why we linked the above factsheet instead).

Antioxidants in abundance

These deserve a special mention, because they include quercetin which we’ve written about previously:

Fight Inflammation & Protect Your Brain, With Quercetin

…as well as quite a collection of others (including chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid, which may sound alarming but are great for lowering your blood pressure and against inflammation, respectively):

There are others too, with cardioprotective effects, liver-healthy effects, and anticancer properties:

Nutritional and therapeutic perspectives of Chia (Salvia hispanica L.): a review

Good for the heart and blood

Check it out:

Oh, and about diabetes? There’s more, this time pertaining to reducing after-dinner blood sugars (or “postpranidial glycemia”, in sciencese):

Good for the brain

Regular 10almonds readers will know that “what’s good for the blood, is good for the brain” is a very good rule of thumb already, but their highomega-3 content makes them especially so:

What Omega-3 Fatty Acids Really Do For Us

Want some?

We don’t sell them, but you can probably find them in your local supermarket and/or health food store, and if you prefer getting things online, here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon

Enjoy!

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  • How Intermittent Fasting Reduces Heart Attack Risk (Directly, Not Via Weight Control!)

    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 the benefits of intermittent fasting, such as:

    Intermittent fasting is mostly enjoyed for its metabolic benefits, such as How To Prevent And Reverse Type 2 Diabetes.

    We also covered a very related topic, with intermittent fasting once again being on the suggestions list:

    Improve Your Insulin Sensitivity! ← this is actually more important even that blood sugar control itself, important as that latter is!

    So, how does it work to reduce heart attack risk?

    While intermittent fasting can be used as a weight loss tool (it also doesn’t have to be—it depends on what you eat and what you’re doing in terms of exercise, amongst other factors), this isn’t about that.

    Although it is also worth mentioning that intermittent fasting does reduce the risks associated with diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and more, as well as generally improving cardiovascular health by reducing blood pressure, cholesterol, and insulin resistance, amongst other metrics.

    However, this is about platelet aggregation. Or in whole: platelet activation, aggregation, and thrombosis.

    A team of scientists, Dr. Shimo Dai et al., investigated the effects of alternate-day intermittent fasting on platelets and thrombosis, in two quite different, but both important, demographics:

    • Humans with coronary artery disease
    • Mice with the ApoE gene (the Alzheimer’s risk gene)

    Why the mice? Because they wanted to check the level of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (the damage that occurs after a stroke), and no ethics board will let scientists slice up human participants brains at will.

    In both cases, the intermittent fasting group enjoyed protective effects that the control group (ad libitum eating) did not.

    Specifically, reduced platelet activation, as well as reduced platelet aggregation. Just to be clear:

    • Platelet activation = platelets getting deployed
    • Platelet aggregation = platelets sticking together

    Both are required for thrombosis, which occurs when the platelets, having been activated and aggregated (which is their job, for example to stop bleeding in the case of an injury), block one or more blood vessels.

    A healthy level of platelet activation and aggregation rests in the sweet spot wherefrom it can stop bleeding, without stopping blood circulation.

    This was found to be associated with increased levels of indole-3-propionic acid (IPA), which is created by certain gut bacteria (C. sporogenes), who proliferate enthusiastically during intermittent fasting.

    In few words:

    • intermittent fasting triggers the C. sporogenes to proliferate,
    • which increases IPA levels,
    • which reduces platelet activation and aggregation,
    • which reduces the risk of thrombosis,
    • and thus reduces the risk of heart attack.

    We may hypothesize that this may be a reason to not do intermittent fasting if you have a bleeding disorder, and consult your doctor if you’re on blood thinners.

    For everyone else, this is one more thing that makes intermittent fasting a very healthful practice!

    You can find the paper itself here:

    Intermittent fasting inhibits platelet activation and thrombosis through the intestinal metabolite indole-3-propionate

    And here’s a pop-science article that gets more technical than we have, if you’d like a middle-ground in terms of complexity:

    Intermittent fasting cuts heart attack risk by preventing dangerous blood clots

    Want to try intermittent fasting, but it sounds hard?

    Check out this:

    Hack Your Hunger

    Enjoy!

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  • Does intermittent fasting increase or decrease our risk of cancer?

    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.

    Research over the years has suggested intermittent fasting has the potential to improve our health and reduce the likelihood of developing cancer.

    So what should we make of a new study in mice suggesting fasting increases the risk of cancer?

    Stock-Asso/Shutterstock

    What is intermittent fasting?

    Intermittent fasting means switching between times of eating and not eating. Unlike traditional diets that focus on what to eat, this approach focuses on when to eat.

    There are lots of commonly used intermittent fasting schedules. The 16/8 plan means you only eat within an eight-hour window, then fast for the remaining 16 hours. Another popular option is the 5:2 diet, where you eat normally for five days then restrict calories for two days.

    In Australia, poor diet contributes to 7% of all cases of disease, including coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and cancers of the bowel and lung. Globally, poor diet is linked to 22% of deaths in adults over the age of 25.

    Intermittent fasting has gained a lot of attention in recent years for its potential health benefits. Fasting influences metabolism, which is how your body processes food and energy. It can affect how the body absorbs nutrients from food and burns energy from sugar and fat.

    What did the new study find?

    The new study, published in Nature, found when mice ate again after fasting, their gut stem cells, which help repair the intestine, became more active. The stem cells were better at regenerating compared with those of mice who were either totally fasting or eating normally.

    This suggests the body might be better at healing itself when eating after fasting.

    However, this could also have a downside. If there are genetic mutations present, the burst of stem cell-driven regeneration after eating again might make it easier for cancer to develop.

    Polyamines – small molecules important for cell growth – drive this regeneration after refeeding. These polyamines can be produced by the body, influenced by diet, or come from gut bacteria.

    The findings suggest that while fasting and refeeding can improve stem cell function and regeneration, there might be a tradeoff with an increased risk of cancer, especially if fasting and refeeding cycles are repeated over time.

    While this has been shown in mice, the link between intermittent fasting and cancer risk in humans is more complicated and not yet fully understood.

    What has other research found?

    Studies in animals have found intermittent fasting can help with weight loss, improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels, and subsequently reduce the risks of diabetes and heart disease.

    Research in humans suggests intermittent fasting can reduce body weight, improve metabolic health, reduce inflammation, and enhance cellular repair processes, which remove damaged cells that could potentially turn cancerous.

    However, other studies warn that the benefits of intermittent fasting are the same as what can be achieved through calorie restriction, and that there isn’t enough evidence to confirm it reduces cancer risk in humans.

    What about in people with cancer?

    In studies of people who have cancer, fasting has been reported to protect against the side effects of chemotherapy and improve the effectiveness of cancer treatments, while decreasing damage to healthy cells.

    Prolonged fasting in some patients who have cancer has been shown to be safe and may potentially be able to decrease tumour growth.

    On the other hand, some experts advise caution. Studies in mice show intermittent fasting could weaken the immune system and make the body less able to fight infection, potentially leading to worse health outcomes in people who are unwell. However, there is currently no evidence that fasting increases the risk of bacterial infections in humans.

    So is it OK to try intermittent fasting?

    The current view on intermittent fasting is that it can be beneficial, but experts agree more research is needed. Short-term benefits such as weight loss and better overall health are well supported. But we don’t fully understand the long-term effects, especially when it comes to cancer risk and other immune-related issues.

    Since there are many different methods of intermittent fasting and people react to them differently, it’s hard to give advice that works for everyone. And because most people who participated in the studies were overweight, or had diabetes or other health problems, we don’t know how the results apply to the broader population.

    For healthy people, intermittent fasting is generally considered safe. But it’s not suitable for everyone, particularly those with certain medical conditions, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and people with a history of eating disorders. So consult your health-care provider before starting any fasting program.

    Amali Cooray, PhD Candidate in Genetic Engineering and Cancer, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)

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

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  • 5 Ways To Make Your Smoothie Blood Sugar Friendly (Avoid the Spike!)

    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.

    At 10almonds, we are often saying “eat whole fruit; don’t drink your calories”. Whole fruit is great for blood sugars; fruit juices and many smoothies on the other hand, not so much. Especially juices, being near-completely or perhaps even completely stripped of fiber, but even smoothies have had a lot of the fiber broken down and are still a liquid, meaning they are very quickly and easily digestible, and thus their sugars (whatever carbs are in there) can just zip straight into your veins.

    However, there are ways to mitigate this…

    Slow it down

    The theme here is “give the digestive process something else to do”; some things are more quickly and easily digestible than others, and if it’s working on breaking down some of the slower things, it’s not waving sugars straight on through; they have to wait their turn.

    To that end, recommendations include:

    1. Full-fat Greek yogurt which provides both protein and fat, helping to slow down the absorption of sugar. Always choose unsweetened versions to avoid added sugars, though!
    2. Coconut milk (canned) which is low in sugar and carbs, high in fat. This helps reduce blood sugar spikes, as she found through personal experimentation too.
    3. Avocado which is rich in healthy fats that help stabilize blood sugar. As a bonus, it blends well into smoothies without affecting the taste much.
    4. Coconut oil which contains medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) that are quickly absorbed for energy without involving glucose, promoting fat-burning and reducing blood sugar spikes.
    5. Collagen powder which is a protein that helps lower blood sugar spikes while also supporting muscle growth, skin, and joints.

    For more on all of these, enjoy:

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    Take care!

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  • How to Use Topical Estrogen Cream For Aging Skin

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    Dr. Sam Ellis, dermatologist, explains:

    Tackling the cause

    Estrogen is important for very many aspects of health beyond the sexual aspects. When it comes to skin, a drop in estrogen (usually because of menopause) leads to changes like collagen loss, dryness, reduced elasticity, and slower wound healing. Applying estrogen creams to the skin can reverse these changes.

    If your estrogen levels are already within normal pre-menopausal female ranges, by the way, there isn’t so much science to indicate its benefit when used topically. If you are already on systemic HRT (i.e., you take estrogen already to raise your blood estrogen levels and affect your body in its entirety), you may or may not gain extra benefits from the topical cream, depending on factors such as your estrogen dose, your route of administration, your cardiovascular health, and other factors.

    For those with lower estrogen and not currently on HRT, you may be wondering: can topical estrogen cream affect systemic estrogen levels? And the answer is that it mostly depends on the dose. In other words: it’s definitely possible, but for most people it’s unlikely.

    As ever, if thinking of taking up any hormonal treatment, do consult an endocrinologist and/or gynecologist, and if you have an increased breast cancer risk (for example genetically or prior history), then an oncologist too, just to be safe.

    That sounds like a lot of scary things, but mostly it’s just to be on the safe side. The dose of estrogen is very low in topical creams, and even then, only a tiny amount is used per day.

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    Take care!

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  • White Bread vs White Pasta – 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.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing a white bread to a white pasta, we picked the pasta.

    Why?

    Neither are great for the health! But like for like, the glycemic index of the bread is usually around 150% of the glycemic index for pasta.

    All that said, we heartily recommend going for wholegrain in either case!

    Bonus tip: cooking pasta “al dente”, so it is still at least a little firm to the bite, results in a lower GI compared to being boiled to death.

    Bonus bonus tip: letting pasta cool increases resistant starches. You can then reheat the pasta without losing this benefit.

    Please don’t put it in the microwave though; you will make an Italian cry. Instead, simply put it in a colander and pour boiling water over it, and then serve in your usual manner (a good approach if serving it separately is: put it in the serving bowl/dish/pan, drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil and a little cracked black pepper, stir to mix those in, and serve)

    Enjoy!

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  • We created a VR tool to test brain function. It could one day help diagnose dementia

    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.

    If you or a loved one have noticed changes in your memory or thinking as you’ve grown older, this could reflect typical changes that occur with ageing. In some cases though, it might suggest something more, such as the onset of dementia.

    The best thing to do if you have concerns is to make an appointment with your GP, who will probably run some tests. Assessment is important because if there is something more going on, early diagnosis can enable prompt access to the right interventions, supports and care.

    But current methods of dementia screening have limitations, and testing can be daunting for patients.

    Our research suggests virtual reality (VR) could be a useful cognitive screening tool, and mitigate some of the challenges associated with current testing methods, opening up the possibility it may one day play a role in dementia diagnosis.

    Where current testing is falling short

    If someone is worried about their memory and thinking, their GP might ask them to complete a series of quick tasks that check things like the ability to follow simple instructions, basic arithmetic, memory and orientation.

    These sorts of screening tools are really good at confirming cognitive problems that may already be very apparent. But commonly used screening tests are not always so good at detecting early and more subtle difficulties with memory and thinking, meaning such changes could be missed until they get worse.

    A clinical neuropsychological assessment is better equipped to detect early changes. This involves a comprehensive review of a patient’s personal and medical history, and detailed assessment of cognitive functions, including attention, language, memory, executive functioning, mood factors and more. However, this can be costly and the testing can take several hours.

    Testing is also somewhat removed from everyday experience, not directly tapping into activities of daily living.

    Enter virtual reality

    VR technology uses computer-generated environments to create immersive experiences that feel like real life. While VR is often used for entertainment, it has increasingly found applications in health care, including in rehabilitation and falls prevention.

    Using VR for cognitive screening is still a new area. VR-based cognitive tests generally create a scenario such as shopping at a supermarket or driving around a city to ascertain how a person would perform in these situations.

    Notably, they engage various senses and cognitive processes such as sight, sound and spatial awareness in immersive ways. All this may reveal subtle impairments which can be missed by standard methods.

    VR assessments are also often more engaging and enjoyable, potentially reducing anxiety for those who may feel uneasy in traditional testing environments, and improving compliance compared to standard assessments.

    A senior woman sitting on a bed with her hand to her face.
    Millions of people around the world have dementia.
    pikselstock/Shutterstock

    Most studies of VR-based cognitive tests have explored their capacity to pick up impairments in spatial memory (the ability to remember where something is located and how to get there), and the results have been promising.

    Given VR’s potential for assisting with diagnosis of cognitive impairment and dementia remains largely untapped, our team developed an online computerised game (referred to as semi-immersive VR) to see how well a person can remember, recall and complete everyday tasks. In our VR game, which lasts about 20 minutes, the user role plays a waiter in a cafe and receives a score on their performance.

    To assess its potential, we enlisted more than 140 people to play the game and provide feedback. The results of this research are published across three recent papers.

    Testing our VR tool

    In our most recently published study, we wanted to verify the accuracy and sensitivity of our VR game to assess cognitive abilities.

    We compared our test to an existing screening tool (called the TICS-M) in more than 130 adults. We found our VR task was able to capture meaningful aspects of cognitive function, including recalling food items and spatial memory.

    We also found younger adults performed better in the game than older adults, which echoes the pattern commonly seen in regular memory tests.

    A senior man sitting outdoors using a laptop.
    Adults of a range of ages tried our computerised game.
    pikselstock/Shutterstock

    In a separate study, we followed ten adults aged over 65 while they completed the game, and interviewed them afterwards. We wanted to understand how this group – who the tool would target – perceived the task.

    These seniors told us they found the game user-friendly and believed it was a promising tool for screening memory. They described the game as engaging and immersive, expressing enthusiasm to continue playing. They didn’t find the task created anxiety.

    For a third study, we spoke to seven health-care professionals about the tool. Overall they gave positive feedback, and noted its dynamic approach to age-old diagnostic challenges.

    However, they did flag some concerns and potential barriers to implementing this sort of tool. These included resource constraints in clinical practice (such as time and space to carry out the assessment) and whether it would be accessible for people with limited technological skills. There was also some scepticism about whether the tool would be an accurate method to assist with dementia diagnosis.

    While our initial research suggests this tool could be a promising way to assess cognitive performance, this is not the same as diagnosing dementia. To improve the test’s ability to accurately detect those who likely have dementia, we’ll need to make it more specific for that purpose, and carry out further research to validate its effectiveness.

    We’ll be conducting more testing of the game soon. Anyone interested in giving it a go to help with our research can register on our team’s website.The Conversation

    Joyce Siette, Research Theme Fellow in Health and Wellbeing, Western Sydney University and Paul Strutt, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Western Sydney University

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

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