Creatine: Very Different For Young & Old People
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What’s the Deal with Creatine?
Creatine is best-known for its use as a sports supplement. It has a few other uses too, usually in the case of helping to treat (or recover from) specific medical conditions.
What actually is it?
Creatine is an organic compound formed from amino acids (mostly l-arginine and lysine, can be l-methionine, but that’s not too important for our purposes here).
We can take it as a supplement, we can get it in our diet (unless we’re vegan, because plants don’t make it; vertebrates do), and we can synthesize it in our own bodies.
What does it do?
While creatine supplements mostly take the form of creatine monohydrate, in the body it’s mostly stored in our muscle tissue as phosphocreatine, and it helps cells produce adenosine triphosphate, (ATP).
ATP is how energy is kept ready to use by cells, and is cells’ immediate go-to when they need to do something. For this reason, it’s highly instrumental in cell repair and rebuilding—which is why it’s used so much by athletes, especially bodybuilders or other athletes that have a vested interest in gaining muscle mass and enjoying faster recovery times.
See: Creatine use among young athletes
However! For reasons as yet not fully known, it doesn’t seem to have the same beneficial effect after a certain age:
What about the uses outside of sport?
Almost all studies outside of athletic performance have been on animals, despite it being suggested as potentially helpful for many things, including:
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Huntington’s disease
- ischemic stroke
- epilepsy
- brain or spinal cord injuries
- motor neuron disease
- memory and brain function in older adults
However, research that’s been done on humans has been scant, if promising:
- A review of creatine supplementation in age-related diseases: more than a supplement for athletes
- Creatine supplementation and cognitive performance in elderly individuals
In short: creatine may reduce symptoms and slow the progression of some neurological diseases, although more research in humans is needed, and words such as “promising”, “potential”, etc are doing a lot of the heavy lifting in those papers we just cited.
Is it safe?
It seems so: Creatine supplementation and health variables: a retrospective study
Nor does it appear to create the sometimes-rumored kidney problems, cramps, or dehydration:
Where can I get it?
You can get it from pretty much any sports nutrition outlet, or you can order online. For example:
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Immunity – by Dr. William Paul
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This book gives a very person-centric (i.e., focuses on the contributions of named individuals) overview of advances in the field of immunology—up to its publication date in 2015. So, it’s not cutting edge, but it is very good at laying the groundwork for understanding more recent advances that occur as time goes by. After all, immunology is a field that never stands still.
We get a good grounding in how our immune system works (and how it doesn’t), the constant arms race between pathogens and immune responses, and the complexities of autoimmune disorders and—which is functionally in an overlapping category of disease—cancer. And, what advances we can expect soon to address those things.
Given the book was published 8 years ago, how did it measure up? Did we get those advances? Well, for the mostpart yes, we have! Some are still works in progress. But, we’ve also had obvious extra immunological threats in years since, which have also resulted in other advances along the way!
If the book has a downside, it’s that sometimes the author can be a little too person-centric. It’s engaging to focus on human characters, and helps us bring information to life; name-dropping to excess, along with awards won, can sometimes feel a little like the book was co-authored by Tahani Al-Jamil.
Nevertheless, it certainly does keep the book from getting too dry!
Bottom line: this book is a great overview of immunology and immunological research, for anyone who wants to understand these things better.
Click here to check out Immunity, and boost your knowledge of yours!
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Self-Compassion – by Dr. Kristin Neff
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A lot of people struggle with self-esteem, and depending on one’s surrounding culture, it can even seem socially obligatory to be constantly valuing oneself highly (or else, who else will if we do not?). But, as Dr. Neff points out, there’s an inherent problem with reinforcing for oneself even a positive message like “I am smart, strong, and capable!” because sometimes all of us have moments of being stupid, weak, and incapable (occasionally all three at once!), which places us in a position of having to choose between self-deceit and self-deprecation, neither of which are good.
Instead, Dr. Neff advocates for self-compassion, for treating oneself as one (hopefully) would a loved one—seeing their/our mistakes, weaknesses, failures, and loving them/ourself anyway.
She does not, however, argue that we should accept just anything from ourselves uncritically, but rather, we identify our mistakes, learn, grow, and progress. So not “I should have known better!”, nor even “How was I supposed to know?!”, but rather, “Now I have learned a thing”.
The style of the book is quite personal, as though having a heart-to-heart over a hot drink perhaps, but the format is organized and progresses naturally from one idea to the next, taking the reader to where we need to be.
Bottom line: if you have trouble with self-esteem (as most people do), then that’s a trap that there is a way out of, and it doesn’t require being perfect or lowering one’s standards, just being kinder to oneself along the way—and this book can help inculcate that.
Click here to check out Self-Compassion, and indeed be kind to yourself!
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Food for Thought – by Lorraine Perretta
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What are “brain foods”? If you think for a moment, you can probably list a few. What this book does is better.
As well as providing the promised 50 recipes (which themselves are varied, good, and easy), Perretta explains the science of very many brain-healthy ingredients. Not just that, but also the science of a lot of brain-unhealthy ingredients. In the latter case, probably things you already knew to stay away from, but still, it’s a good reminder of one more reason why.
Nor does she merely sort things into brain-healthy (or brain-unhealthy, or brain-neutral), but rather she gives lists of “this for memory” and “this against depression” and “this for cognition” and “this against stress” and so forth.
Perhaps the greatest value of this book is in that; her clear explanations with science that’s simplified but not dumbed down. The recipes are definitely great too, though!
Bottom line: if you’d like to eat more for brain health, this book will give you many ways of doing so
Click here to check out Food for Thought, and upgrade your recipes!
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The Lifestyle Factors That Matter >8 Times More Than Genes
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We’ve said before that “genes predispose; they don’t predetermine”. It can be good to know one’s genes, of course, and we’ve written about this here:
Genetic Testing: Health Benefits & Methods
…which can include some quite contemporary risks, such as:
Genetic Risk Factors For Long COVID
And yet…
Nurture Over Nature
A very large (n=492,567) study looked into the impact of 25 lifestyle/environmental factors, of which 23 are considered modifiable, and found that lifestyle/environmental factors accounted for 17% of the variation in mortality risk, while genetic predisposition accounted for less than 2%.
Which is good news, because it means we can improve our lot.
But how?
The strongest negative factors (that increased mortality the most) were:
- Smoking
- Not owning your home (interestingly, “live in accommodation rent-free vs own” performed just as badly as various kinds of “renting home vs own”, while “own house with mortgage, vs own outright” had only a marginal negative effect)
- Sleeping more than 9 hours per day (performed even worse than sleeping under 7 hours per day, which also increased mortality risk, but not by as much as oversleeping)
- Financial difficulties in the past two years
- Homosexuality
- Unemployment
- Being an evening person
- Lonely lifestyle
- Frequent napping
We may hypothesize that homosexuality probably makes the list because of how it makes one more likely to have other items on the list, especially unemployment, and the various poverty-related indicators that come from unemployment.
Being an evening person, whatever its pathology, is a well-established risk factor that we’ve talked about before:
Early Bird Or Night Owl? Genes vs Environment ← this is also, by the way, an excellent example of how “genes predispose; they don’t predetermine”, because there is a genetic factor involved, and/but we absolutely can switch it up, if we go about it correctly, and become a morning person without trying to force it.
The strongest positive factors (that decreased mortality the most) were:
- The inverse of all of the various above things, e.g. never having smoked, owning your own home, etc
- Household income, specifically
- Living with a partner
- Having oil central heating
- Gym use
- Sun protection use
- Physical activity, especially if in leisure time rather than as part of one’s work
- Glucosamine supplements
- Family visit frequency
- Cereal fiber intake (i.e. whole grains)
We may hypothesize that having oil central heating is simply a more expensive option to install than many, and therefore likely one enjoyed by homeowners more often than renters.
We may hypothesize that glucosamine supplementation is an indication of the type of person who takes care of a specific condition (inflammation of the joints) without an existential threat; notably, multivitamin supplements don’t get the same benefit, probably because of their ubiquity.
We may hypothesize that “family visit frequency” is highly correlated to having a support network, being social (and thus not lonely), and likely is associated with household income too.
You can see the full list of factors and their impacts, here:
Environmental architecture of mortality in the UKB ← that’s the UK Biobank
You can read the paper in full, here:
Integrating the environmental and genetic architectures of aging and mortality
Practical takeaways
The priorities seem to be as follows:
Don’t smoke. Ideally you will never have smoked, but short of a time machine, you can’t change that now, so: what you can do is quit now if you haven’t already.
See also: Which Addiction-Quitting Methods Work Best?
Note that other factors often lumped in with such, for example daily alcohol consumption, red meat intake, processed meat intake, and salt intake, all significantly increased mortality risk, but none of them in the same league of badness as smoking.
See also: Is Sugar The New Smoking? ← simply put: no, it is not. Don’t get us wrong; added sugar is woeful for the health, but smoking is pretty much the worst thing you can do for your health, short of intentionally (and successfully) committing suicide.
Be financially secure, ideally owning your own home. For many (indeed, for most people in the world) this may be an “easier said than done” thing, but if you can make decisions that will improve your financial security, the mortality numbers are very clear on this matter.
Be social, as loneliness indeed kills, in numerous ways. Loneliness means a lack of a support network, and it means a lack of social contact (thus increased risk of cognitive decline), and likely decreased ikigai, unless your life’s purpose is something inherently linked to solitude (e.g. the “meditating on top of a mountain” archetype).
See also: What Loneliness Does To Your Brain And Body
And to fix it: How To Beat Loneliness & Isolation
Be active: especially in your leisure time; being active because you have to does convey benefits, but on the same level as physical activity because you want to.
See also: No-Exercise Exercises (That Won’t Feel Like “Having To Do” Exercise)
Use sunscreen: we’re surprised this one made the list; it’s important to avoid skin cancer of course, but we didn’t think it’d be quite such a driver of mortality risk mitigation as the numbers show it is, and we can’t think of a clear alternative explanation, as we could with some of the other “why did this make the list?” items. At worst, it could be a similar case to that of glucosamine use, and thus is a marker of a conscientious person making a regular sustained effort for their health. Either way, it seems like a good idea based on the numbers.
See also: Do We Need Sunscreen In Winter, Really?
Enjoy whole grains: fiber is super-important, and that mustn’t be underestimated!
See also: What Matters Most For Your Heart? ← hint: it isn’t about salt intake or fat
And, for that matter: The Best Kind Of Fiber For Overall Health?
Take care!
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Best Salt for Neti Pots?
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❓ Q&A With 10almonds Subscribers!
Q: What kind of salt is best for neti pots?
A: Non-iodised salt is usually recommended, but really, any human-safe salt is fine. By this we mean for example:
- Sodium chloride (like most kitchen salts),
- Potassium chloride (as found in “reduced sodium” kitchen salts), or
- Magnesium sulfate (also known as epsom salts).
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Superfood Soba Noodle Salad
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This Japanese dish is packed with nutrients and takes very little preparation time, involving only one cooked ingredient, and a healthy one at that!
You will need
- 8 oz dried soba noodles
- ½ bulb garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- ¼ cucumber, cut into thin batons (don’t peel it first)
- ½ carrot, grated (don’t peel it first)
- 6 cherry tomatoes, halved (you wouldn’t peel these, right? Please don’t)
- ½ red onion, finely sliced (ok, this one you can peel first! Please do)
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tsp crushed red chili flakes
- Garnish: fresh parsley, chopped
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
1) Cook the soba noodles (boil in water for 10 mins or until soft). Rinse with cold water (which lowers the glycemic index further, and also we want them cold anyway) and set aside.
2) Make the dressing by blending the garlic, avocado oil, and soy cauce. Set it aside.
3) Assemble the salad by thoroughly but gently mixing the noodles with the cucumber, carrot, tomatoes, and onion. Add the dressing, the chia seeds, and the chili flakes, and toss gently to combine.
4) Serve, adding the parsley garnish.
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:
- Rice vs Buckwheat – Which is Healthier? ← soba noodles are made from buckwheat, which by the way is also a good source of rutin, which can strengthen blood vessel walls against damage, reducing the risk of atheroma
- Cucumber Extract Beats Glucosamine & Chondroitin… At 1/135th Of The Dose?!
- Our Top 5 Spices: How Much Is Enough For Benefits?
- Chia: The Tiniest Seeds With The Most Value
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
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