Cows’ Milk, Bird Flu, & You

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When it comes to dairy products, generally speaking, fermented ones (such as most cheeses and yogurts) are considered healthy in moderation, and unfermented ones have their pros and cons that can be argued and quibbled “until the cows come home”. We gave a broad overview, here:

Is Dairy Scary?

Furthermore, you may recall that there’s some controversy/dissent about when human babies can have cows’ milk:

When can my baby drink cow’s milk? It’s sooner than you think

So, what about bird flu now?

Earlier this year, the information from the dairy industry was that it was nothing to be worried about for the time being:

Bird Flu Is Bad for Poultry and Dairy Cows. It’s Not a Dire Threat for Most of Us — Yet.

More recently, the latest science has found:

❝We found a first-order decay rate constant of −2.05 day–1 equivalent to a T99 of 2.3 days. Viral RNA remained detectable for at least 57 days with no degradation. Pasteurization (63 °C for 30 min) reduced infectious virus to undetectable levels and reduced viral RNA concentrations, but reduction was less than 1 log10.

The prolonged persistence of viral RNA in both raw and pasteurized milk has implications for food safety assessments and environmental surveillance❞

You can find the study here:

Infectivity and Persistence of Influenza A Virus in Raw Milk

In short: raw milk keeps the infectious virus; pasteurization appears to render it uninfectious, though viral RNA remains present.

This is relevant, because of the bird flu virus being found in milk:

World Health Organization | H5N1 strain of bird flu found in milk

To this end, a moratorium has been placed on the sale of raw milk, first by the California Dept of Public Health (following an outbreak in California):

California halts sales of raw milk due to bird flu virus contamination

And then, functionally, by the USDA, though rather than an outright ban, it’s requiring testing for the virus:

USDA orders testing of milk supply for presence of bird flu virus

So, is pasteurized milk safe?

The official answer to this, per the FDA, is… Honestly, a lot of hand-wringing and shrugging. What we do know is:

  • the bird flu virus has been found in pasteurized milk too
  • the test for this is very sensitive, and has the extra strength/weakness that viral fragments will flag it as a positive
  • it is assumed that the virus was inactivated by the pasteurization process
  • it could, however, have been the entire virus, the test simply does not tell us which

In the FDA’s own words:

❝The pasteurization process has served public health well for more than 100 years. Even if the virus is detected in raw milk, pasteurization is generally expected to eliminate pathogens to a level that does not pose a risk to consumer health❞

So, there we have it: the FDA does not have a reassurance exactly, but it does have a general expectation.

Source: US Officials: Bird flu viral fragments found in pasteurized milk

Want to know more?

You might like this mythbusting edition we did a little while back:

Pasteurization: What It Does And Doesn’t Do ← this is about its effect on risks and nutrients

Take care!

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  • The Spectrum of Hope – by Dr. Gayatri Devi

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    We’ve written before about Dr. Devi’s work (See: “Alzheimer’s: The Bad News And The Good“) but she has plenty more to say than we could fit in an article.

    The book is written for patients, family/carers, and clinicians—without getting deep into the science, which it is assumed clinicians will know. the general style of the book is pop-science, and it’s more about addressing the misconceptions around Alzheimer’s, rather than focusing on neurological features such as beta amyloid plaques and tau proteins and the like.

    Dr. Devi explains a lot about the experience of Alzheimer’s—what to expect, or rather, what to know about in advance. Because, as she explains, there are a lot of different manifestations of Alzheimer’s that are all lumped under the same umbrella.

    This means that a person could have negligible memory but perfect language and reasoning skills, or the other way around, or some other combination of symptoms showing up or not.

    Which means that any plan for managing one’s Alzheimer’s needs to be adaptable and personalized, which is something Dr. Devi talks us through, too.

    Bottom line: if you are a loved one has Alzheimer’s, or you just like to be prepared, this is a great book to prepare anybody for just that.

    Click here to check out The Spectrum of Hope, and hold onto that hope!

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  • Just One Heart – by Dr. Jonathan Fisher

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    First, what this is not: a book to say eat fiber, go easy on the salt, get some exercise, and so forth.

    What this rather is: a book about the connection between the heart and mind; often written poetically, the simple biological reality is that our emotional state does have a genuine impact on our heart health, and as such, any effort to look after our heart (healthwise) would be incomplete without an effort to look after our heart (emotionally).

    Dr. Fisher talks about the impact of stress and uncertainty, as well as peace and security, on heart health—and then, having sorted emotional states into “heart breakers” and “heart wakers”, he goes about laying out a plan for what is, emotionally and thus also physiologically, good for our heart.

    Chapter by chapter, he walks us through the 7 principles to live by:

    1. Steadiness: how to steady your heart amid chaos
    2. Wisdom: how to develop a wise heart in uncertain times
    3. Openness: how to safely open your heart in a threatening world
    4. Wholeness: how to show up with your whole heart without going to pieces
    5. Courage: how to lead with a courageous heart when fear surrounds you
    6. Lightness: how to live with a light heart in a heavy world
    7. Warmth: how to love with a warm heart when life feels cold

    The style is anything but clinical; it’s well-written, certainly, and definitely informed in part by his medical understanding of the heart, but it’s entirely the raw human element that shines throughout, and that makes the ideas a lot more tangible.

    Bottom line: if you’d like your heart to be healthy (cardiac health) and your heart to be healthy (emotional health), this book is a very worthwhile read.

    Click here to check out Just One Heart, and take care of yours!

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  • What Is Earwax & Should You Get Rid Of It?

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    Earwax (cerumen) forms in the outer ear canal when dead skin cells mix with oily sweat (a specialty of the apocrine glands) and sebum, a fatty substance mostly associated with facial oiliness. But, does it have a purpose, or is it just a waste product?

    Nature is (mostly) best in this case

    Earwax plays an important role in ear health, acting as a natural lubricant that prevents dryness and itchiness, trapping debris and microbes, and forming a protective barrier for the ear canal. It even contains proteins that help fight bacterial infections.

    As for removal: the body has a natural mechanism for removing excess earwax: as skin cells grow, they migrate outward, carrying earwax with them.

    In contrast, manual removal of earwax can do more harm than good. Using swabs or other items often pushes wax deeper, risks damaging the ear canal, and disrupts its protective barrier, potentially leading to infection.

    Ear candling, which claims to extract earwax, not only does not work (its main premise has been actively disproven and clinical evidence shows unequivocally that it doesn’t work by any mysterious method either; it just plain doesn’t work), but also can cause injuries and will tend to leave more harmful debris behind than was there originally.

    For those prone to earwax buildup, over-the-counter eardrops can help soften wax for natural removal, and medical professionals have safe methods to clear blockages if necessary.

    To maintain ear health, it’s best to clean only the outer ear with a damp cloth, limit the use of earplugs or earbuds, and generally leave earwax alone unless it causes discomfort or hearing issues.

    For more on all of this, enjoy:

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

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like to read:

    Ear Candling: Is It Safe & Does It Work? ← the answer is “no and no”, but the science may interest you

    Take care!

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  • Almonds vs Pecans – 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 almonds to pecans, we picked the almonds.

    Why?

    In terms of macros, almonds have more protein, carbs, and fiber, as well as the lower glycemic index. A strong start for almonds here, though pecans have more fat (and the healthy blend of fats is quite comparable from one nut to the other).

    In the category of vitamins, almonds have more of vitamins B2, B3, B9, E, and choline, while pecans have more of vitamins A, B1, B5, B6, and K. Numerically that’s a tie, though the biggest margins of difference are for vitamins A and E, respectively, and we might want to prioritize almonds’ extra vitamin E, over pecans’ extra vitamin A, given that vitamin A is more easily found in large quantities in many foods, whereas vitamin E is not quite so abundant generally. So in short, either a tie or a slight win for almonds here.

    When it comes to minerals, both contain a lot of goodness, but almonds have more calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium, while pecans have more copper, manganese, and zinc. A clear win for almonds, though as we say, pecans are also great for this, just not as great as almonds.

    As a side-note, both of these nuts have been found to have anticancer properties against breast cancer cell lines. In all likelihood this means they help against other cancers too, but breast cancer is what the extant research has been for.

    So, naturally, enjoy either or both (in fact, both is ideal). But if you want to choose one for nutritional density, it’s almonds.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Why You Should Diversify Your Nuts

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  • Eat To Avoid (Or Beat) PCOS

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    Polycystic ovary syndrome, PCOS, affects very many people; around 1 in 5 women. It can show up unexpectedly, and usually the first-identified sign is irregular vaginal bleeding. We say “vaginal” rather than “menstrual” as it’s not technically menses, although it’ll look (and can feel) the same.

    Like many “affects mostly women” conditions, science’s general position is “we don’t know what causes it or how to cure it”.

    Quick book recommendation before we continue:

    Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World – by Dr. Elinor Cleghorn

    …is a top-tier book about medical misogyny. We’d say more here, but well, you can read our review there 🙂

    What doesn’t work

    Since PCOS is characterized by excessive androgen production, it is reasonable to expect that foods containing phytoestrogens (such as soy) may help. They won’t. The human body can’t use those as estrogen, and in fact, consuming unusually large quantities of phytoestrogens can actually get in the way of your own (or bioidentical) estrogen, by competing for the same receptors but not really doing the job.

    But, you won’t get that problem from moderate consumption of soy; the warning is more for those tempted to self-medicate with megadoses, or are opting for dubious supplements such as Pueraria mirifica ← will have to do a research review on that one of these days, but suffice it to say meanwhile, it has some serious drawbacks

    See also: What Does “Balance Your Hormones” Even Mean?

    What can work

    There are some supplement-based approaches that actually can help, and those are the ones that rather than trying to manufacture estrogen out of thin air, work to reduce testosterone and/or reduce the conversion of free testosterone to its more potent form, dihydrogen testosterone (DHT); here are two examples:

    What will work

    …or at least, barring additional confounding factors, what the evidence strongly supports working. Here’s where we get into diet properly, and there are three main dietary approaches:

    Low-GI diet: focus on high-fiber, low-carb foods (e.g. whole grains, legumes, berries, leafy greens). Eating this way results in improved insulin sensitivity, lower fasting insulin, cholesterol, triglycerides, waist circumference, and (for women) yes, lower testosterone levels.

    See: What Do The Different Kinds Of Fiber Do? 30 Foods That Rank Highest

    High antioxidant diet: focus on foods rich in antioxidants (e.g. vitamin A, α-tocopherol specifically, vitamins C and D, and polyphenols) as these lower PCOS incidence.

    See: 21 Most Beneficial Polyphenols & What Foods Have Them

    Ketogenic diet: focus on high-fat, very low-carb foods (e.g. fatty fish, dairy, leafy greens). This significantly reduces androgen levels, improves insulin sensitivity, and regulates hormones. But… It’s recommended for short-term use only due to its negative health impacts from poor (i.e. narrow) nutritional coverage:

    See: Ketogenic Diet: Burning Fat, Or Burning Out?

    It is also reasonable to supplement, for example:

    Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D have powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that significantly improve insulin sensitivity and reduce androgen levels in metabolic syndromes like PCOS. A higher intake of omega-3 and vitamin E also alleviates mental health parameters and gene expression of PPAR-γ, IL-8, and TNF-α in women with PCOS.

    Dietary supplements, such as antioxidants like N-acetylcysteine (NAC), vitamin D, inositol, and omega-3 fatty acids, and mineral supplements (zinc, magnesium selenium, and chromium) help in reducing insulin resistance. These supplements also enhance ovulatory function and decrease inflammation in PCOS patients.

    Omega-3 fatty acid supplements improve biochemical parameters LH, LH/FSH, lipid profiles, and adiponectin levels and regularize the menstrual cycle in women with PCOS. A recent RCT also indicated that probiotic/symbiotic supplementation significantly improves triglyceride, insulin, and HDL levels in women with PCOS.❞

    Source: The Role of Lifestyle Interventions in PCOS Management: A Systematic Review

    Want to know more?

    You might like this book that we reviewed a little while back:

    PCOS Repair Protocol – by Tamika Woods

    Take care!

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  • Running or yoga can help beat depression, research shows – even if exercise is the last thing you feel like

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    At least one in ten people have depression at some point in their lives, with some estimates closer to one in four. It’s one of the worst things for someone’s wellbeing – worse than debt, divorce or diabetes.

    One in seven Australians take antidepressants. Psychologists are in high demand. Still, only half of people with depression in high-income countries get treatment.

    Our new research shows that exercise should be considered alongside therapy and antidepressants. It can be just as impactful in treating depression as therapy, but it matters what type of exercise you do and how you do it.

    Walk, run, lift, or dance away depression

    We found 218 randomised trials on exercise for depression, with 14,170 participants. We analysed them using a method called a network meta-analysis. This allowed us to see how different types of exercise compared, instead of lumping all types together.

    We found walking, running, strength training, yoga and mixed aerobic exercise were about as effective as cognitive behaviour therapy – one of the gold-standard treatments for depression. The effects of dancing were also powerful. However, this came from analysing just five studies, mostly involving young women. Other exercise types had more evidence to back them.

    Walking, running, strength training, yoga and mixed aerobic exercise seemed more effective than antidepressant medication alone, and were about as effective as exercise alongside antidepressants.

    But of these exercises, people were most likely to stick with strength training and yoga.

    Antidepressants certainly help some people. And of course, anyone getting treatment for depression should talk to their doctor before changing what they are doing.

    Still, our evidence shows that if you have depression, you should get a psychologist and an exercise plan, whether or not you’re taking antidepressants.

    Join a program and go hard (with support)

    Before we analysed the data, we thought people with depression might need to “ease into it” with generic advice, such as “some physical activity is better than doing none.”

    But we found it was far better to have a clear program that aimed to push you, at least a little. Programs with clear structure worked better, compared with those that gave people lots of freedom. Exercising by yourself might also make it hard to set the bar at the right level, given low self-esteem is a symptom of depression.

    We also found it didn’t matter how much people exercised, in terms of sessions or minutes a week. It also didn’t really matter how long the exercise program lasted. What mattered was the intensity of the exercise: the higher the intensity, the better the results.

    Yes, it’s hard to keep motivated

    We should exercise caution in interpreting the findings. Unlike drug trials, participants in exercise trials know which “treatment” they’ve been randomised to receive, so this may skew the results.

    Many people with depression have physical, psychological or social barriers to participating in formal exercise programs. And getting support to exercise isn’t free.

    We also still don’t know the best way to stay motivated to exercise, which can be even harder if you have depression.

    Our study tried to find out whether things like setting exercise goals helped, but we couldn’t get a clear result.

    Other reviews found it’s important to have a clear action plan (for example, putting exercise in your calendar) and to track your progress (for example, using an app or smartwatch). But predicting which of these interventions work is notoriously difficult.

    A 2021 mega-study of more than 60,000 gym-goers found experts struggled to predict which strategies might get people into the gym more often. Even making workouts fun didn’t seem to motivate people. However, listening to audiobooks while exercising helped a lot, which no experts predicted.

    Still, we can be confident that people benefit from personalised support and accountability. The support helps overcome the hurdles they’re sure to hit. The accountability keeps people going even when their brains are telling them to avoid it.

    So, when starting out, it seems wise to avoid going it alone. Instead:

    • join a fitness group or yoga studio
    • get a trainer or an exercise physiologist

    • ask a friend or family member to go for a walk with you.

    Taking a few steps towards getting that support makes it more likely you’ll keep exercising.

    Let’s make this official

    Some countries see exercise as a backup plan for treating depression. For example, the American Psychological Association only conditionally recommends exercise as a “complementary and alternative treatment” when “psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy is either ineffective or unacceptable”.

    Based on our research, this recommendation is withholding a potent treatment from many people who need it.

    In contrast, The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists recommends vigorous aerobic activity at least two to three times a week for all people with depression.

    Given how common depression is, and the number failing to receive care, other countries should follow suit and recommend exercise alongside front-line treatments for depression.

    I would like to acknowledge my colleagues Taren Sanders, Chris Lonsdale and the rest of the coauthors of the paper on which this article is based.

    If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.The Conversation

    Michael Noetel, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, The University of Queensland

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

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