Simply The Pits: These Underarm Myths!

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Are We Taking A Risk To Smell Fresh As A Daisy?

Yesterday, we asked you for your health-related view of underarm deodorants.

So, what does the science say?

They can cause (or increase risk of) cancer: True or False?

False, so far as we know. Obviously it’s very hard to prove a negative, but there is no credible evidence that deodorants cause cancer.

The belief that they do comes from old in vitro studies applying the deodorant directly to the cells in question, like this one with canine kidney tissues in petri dishes:

Antiperspirant Induced DNA Damage in Canine Cells by Comet Assay

Which means that if you’re not a dog and/or if you don’t spray it directly onto your internal organs, this study’s data doesn’t apply to you.

In contrast, more modern systematic safety reviews have found…

❝Neither is there clear evidence to show use of aluminum-containing underarm antiperspirants or cosmetics increases the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease or breast cancer.

Metallic aluminum, its oxides, and common aluminum salts have not been shown to be either genotoxic or carcinogenic.

Source: Systematic review of potential health risks posed by pharmaceutical, occupational and consumer exposures to metallic and nanoscale aluminum, aluminum oxides, aluminum hydroxide and its soluble salts

(however, one safety risk it did find is that we should avoid eating it excessively while pregnant or breastfeeding)

Alternatives like deodorant rocks have fewer chemicals and thus are safer: True or False?

True and False, respectively. That is, they do have fewer chemicals, but cannot in scientific terms be qualifiably, let alone quantifiably, described as safer than a product that was already found to be safe.

Deodorant rocks are usually alum crystals, by the way; that is to say, aluminum salts of various kinds. So if it was aluminum you were hoping to avoid, it’s still there.

However, if you’re trying to cut down on extra chemicals, then yes, you will get very few in deodorant rocks, compared to the very many in spray-on or roll-on deodorants!

Soap and water is a safe, simple, and sufficient alternative: True or False?

True or False, depending on what you want as a result!

  • If you care that your deodorant also functions as an antiperspirant, then no, soap and water will certainly not have an antiperspirant effect.
  • If you care only about washing off bacteria and eliminating odor for the next little while, then yes, soap and water will work just fine.

Bonus myths:

There is no difference between men’s and women’s deodorants, apart from the marketing: True or False?

False! While to judge by the marketing, the only difference is that one smells of “evening lily” and the other smells of “chainsaw barbecue” or something, the real difference is…

  • The “men’s” kind is designed to get past armpit hair and reach the skin without clogging the hair up.
  • The “women’s” kind is designed to apply a light coating to the skin that helps avoid chafing and irritation.

In other words… If you are a woman with armpit hair or a man without, you might want to ignore the marketing and choose according to your grooming preferences.

Hopefully you can still find a fragrance that suits!

Shaving (or otherwise depilating) armpits is better for hygiene: True or False?

True or False, depending on what you consider “hygiene”.

Consistent with popular belief, shaving means there is less surface area for bacteria to live. And empirically speaking, that means a reduction in body odor:

A comparative clinical study of different hair removal procedures and their impact on axillary odor reduction in men

However, shaving typically causes microabrasions, and while there’s no longer hair for the bacteria to enjoy, they now have access to the inside of your skin, something they didn’t have before. This can cause much more unpleasant problems in the long-run, for example:

❝Hidradenitis suppurativa is a chronic and debilitating skin disease, whose lesions can range from inflammatory nodules to abscesses and fistulas in the armpits, groin, perineum, inframammary region❞

Read more: Hidradenitis suppurativa: Basic considerations for its approach: A narrative review

And more: Hidradenitis suppurativa: Epidemiology, clinical presentation, and pathogenesis

If this seems a bit “damned if you do; damned if you don’t”, this writer’s preferred way of dodging both is to use electric clippers (the buzzy kind, as used for cutting short hair) to trim hers down low, and thus leave just a little soft fuzz.

What you do with yours is obviously up to you; our job here is just to give the information for everyone to make informed decisions whatever you choose 🙂

Take care!

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  • What Teas To Drink Before Bed (By Science!)

    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.

    Which Sleepy Tea?

    Herbal “tea” preparations (henceforth we will write it without the quotation marks, although these are not true teas) are popular for winding down at the end of a long day ready for a relaxing sleep.

    Today we’ll look at the science for them! We’ll be brief for each, because we’ve selected five and have only so much room, but here goes:

    Camomile

    Simply put, it works and has plenty of good science for it. Here’s just one example:

    ❝Noteworthy, our meta-analysis showed a significant improvement in sleep quality after chamomile administration❞

    ~ Dr. Hieu et al.

    Therapeutic efficacy and safety of chamomile for state anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, and sleep quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials and quasi-randomized trials

    Also this writer’s favourite relaxation drink!

    (example on Amazon if you want some)

    Lavender

    We didn’t find robust science for its popularly-claimed sedative properties, but it does appear to be anxiolytic, and anxiety gets in the way of sleep, so while lavender may not be a sedative, it may calm a racing mind all the same, thus facilitating better sleep:

    The effect of lavender herbal tea on the anxiety and depression of the elderly: A randomized clinical trial

    (example on Amazon if you want some)

    Magnolia

    Animal study for the mechanism:

    Magnolol, a major bioactive constituent of the bark of Magnolia officinalis, induces sleep via the benzodiazepine site of GABA(A) receptor in mice

    Human study for “it is observed to help humans sleep better”:

    A randomized controlled pilot study of the effectiveness of magnolia tea on alleviating depression in postnatal women

    As you can see from the title, its sedative properties weren’t the point of the study, but if you click through to read it, you can see that they found (and recorded) this benefit anyway

    (example on Amazon if you want some)

    Passionflower

    There’s not a lot of evidence for this one, but there is some. Here’s a small study (n=41) that found:

    ❝Of six sleep-diary measures analysed, sleep quality showed a significantly better rating for passionflower compared with placebo (t(40) = 2.70, p < 0.01). These initial findings suggest that the consumption of a low dose of Passiflora incarnata, in the form of tea, yields short-term subjective sleep benefits for healthy adults with mild fluctuations in sleep quality.❞

    ~ Dr. Ngan & Dr. Conduit

    A double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation of the effects of Passiflora incarnata (passionflower) herbal tea on subjective sleep quality

    So, that’s not exactly a huge body of evidence, but it is promising.

    (example on Amazon if you want some)

    Valerian

    We’ll be honest, the science for this one is sloppy. It’s very rare to find Valerian tested by itself (or sold by itself; we had to dig a bit to find one for the Amazon link below), and that skews the results of science and renders any conclusions questionable.

    And the studies that were done? Dubious methods, and inconclusive results:

    Valerian Root in Treating Sleep Problems and Associated Disorders-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    Nevertheless, if you want to try it for yourself, you can do a case study (i.e., n=1 sample) if not a randomized controlled trial, and let us know how it goes 🙂

    (example on Amazon if you want some)

    Summary

    • Valerian we really don’t have the science to say anything about it
    • Passionflower has some nascent science for it, but not much
    • Lavender is probably not soporific, but it is anxiolytic
    • Magnolia almost certainly helps, but isn’t nearly so well-backed as…
    • Camomile comes out on top, easily—by both sheer weight of evidence, and by clear conclusive uncontroversial results.

    Enjoy!

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  • DBT Made Simple – by Sheri van Dijk

    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.

    This book offers very clear explanations of DBT. In fact, a more fitting title might have been “DBT made clear”, because it does it without oversimplification.

    This is a way in which van Dijk’s work stands out from that of many writers on the subject! Many authors oversimplify, to the point that a reader may wonder “is that all it is?” when, in reality, there’s rather more to it.

    This work is, therefore, refreshingly comprehensive, without sacrificing clarity.

    Van Dijk also takes us through the four pillars of DBT:

    1. Mindfulness
    2. Distress tolerance
    3. Emotional regulation
    4. Interpersonal effectiveness

    Each of these can help an individual alone; together, they produce a composite effect with a synergy that makes each more effective. Hence, pillars.

    On the topic of “an individual”, you may be wondering “is this book for therapists or the general public?” and the answer is yes, yes it is.

    That is to say: it’s written with the assumption that the reader wants to learn DBT in order to practice it as a therapist… and/but is written in such a fashion that it’s very easy to apply the skills to oneself, too. As it’s an introductory guide—a comprehensive one, but without assuming prior knowledge—it’s a perfect resource for anyone to get a good grounding in the subject.

    Bottom line: if you’ve been hearing about DBT (possibly from us!) and wondering where you might start, this book is an excellent place to begin.

    Click here to check out DBT Made Simple, and start making many parts of life easier!

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  • Are Supplements Worth Taking?

    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.

    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 😎

    ❝There seems to be a lot of suggestions to take supplements for every thing, from your head to your toes. I know it’s up to the individual but what are the facts or stats to support taking them versus not?❞

    Short answer:

    • supplementary vitamins and minerals are probably neither needed nor beneficial for most (more on this later) people, with the exception of vitamin D which most people over a certain age need unless they are white and getting a lot of sun.
    • other kinds of supplement can be very beneficial or useless, depending on what they are, of course, and also your own personal physiology.

    With regard to vitamins and minerals, in most cases they should be covered by a healthy balanced diet, and the bioavailability is usually better from food anyway (bearing in mind, we say vitamin such-and-such, or name an elemental mineral, but there are usually multiple, often many, forms of each—and supplements will usually use whatever is cheapest to produce and most chemically stable).

    However! It is also quite common for food to be grown in whatever way is cheapest and produces the greatest visible yield, rather than for micronutrient coverage.

    This goes for most if not all plants, and it goes extra for animals (because of the greater costs and inefficiencies involved in rearing animals).

    We wrote about this a while back in a mythbusting edition of 10almonds, covering:

    • Food is less nutritious now than it used to be: True or False?
    • Supplements aren’t absorbed properly and thus are a waste of money: True or False?
    • We can get everything we need from our diet: True or False?

    You can read the answers and explanations, and see the science that we presented, here:

    Do We Need Supplements, And Do They Work?

    You may be wondering: what was that about “most (more on this later) people”?

    Sometimes someone will have a nutrient deficiency that can’t be easily remedied with diet. Often this occurs when their body:

    1. has trouble absorbing that nutrient, or
    2. does something inconvenient with it that makes a lot of it unusable when it gets it.

    …which is why calcium, iron, vitamin B12, and vitamin D are quite common supplements to get prescribed by doctors after a certain age.

    Still, it’s best to try getting things from one’s diet first all of all, of course.

    Things we can’t (reasonably) get from food

    This is another category entirely. There are many supplements that are convenient forms of things readily found in a lot of food, such as vitamins and minerals, or phytochemicals like quercetin, fisetin, and lycopene (to name just a few of very many).

    Then there are things not readily found in food, or at least, not in food that’s readily available in supermarkets.

    For example, if you go to your local supermarket and ask where the mimosa is, they’ll try to sell you a cocktail mix instead of the roots, bark, or leaves of a tropical tree. It is also unlikely they’ll stock lion’s mane mushroom, or reishi.

    If perchance you do get the chance to acquire fresh lion’s mane mushroom, by the way, give it a try! It’s delicious shallow-fried in a little olive oil with black pepper and garlic.

    In short, this last category, the things most of us can’t reasonably get from food without going far out of our way, are the kind of thing whereby supplements actually can be helpful.

    And yet, still, not every supplement has evidence to support the claims made by its sellers, so it’s good to do your research beforehand. We do that on Mondays, with our “Research Review Monday” editions, of which you can find in our searchable research review archive ← we also review some drugs that can’t be classified as supplements, but mostly, it’s supplements.

    Take care!

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  • Delicious Quinoa Avocado Bread

    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.

    They’re gluten-free, full of protein and healthy fats, generous with the fiber, easy to make, and tasty too! What’s not to love? Keep this recipe (and its ingredients) handy for next time you want healthy burger buns or similar:

    You will need

    • 2½ cups quinoa flour
    • 2 cups almond flour (if allergic, just substitute more quinoa flour)
    • 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and mashed
    • zest and juice of 1 lime
    • 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
    • 1 tsp baking powder
    • ½ tsp MSG or 1 tsp low-sodium salt
    • Optional: seeds, oats, or similar for topping the buns

    Method

    (we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

    1) Preheat the oven to 350℉/175℃.

    2) Mix the flaxseed with ⅓ cup warm water and set aside.

    3) Mix, in a large bowl, the quinoa flour and almond flour with the baking powder and the MSG or salt.

    4) Mix, in a separate smaller bowl, the avocado and lime.

    5) Add the wet ingredients to the dry, slowly, adding an extra ½ cup water as you do, and knead into a dough.

    6) Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, each shaped into a ball and then slightly flattened, to create a burger bun shape. If you’re going to add any seeds or similar as a topping, add those now.

    7) Bake them in the oven (on a baking sheet lined with baking paper) for 20–25 minutes. You can check whether they’re done the same way you would a cake, by piercing them to the center with a toothpick and seeing whether it comes out clean.

    8) Serve when sufficiently cooled.

    Enjoy!

    Want to learn more?

    For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

    Take care!

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  • Stay away from collarium sunbeds to avoid the big risk of collapsing with a bad tan.

    What are ‘collarium’ sunbeds? Here’s why you should stay away

    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.

    Reports have recently emerged that solariums, or sunbeds – largely banned in Australia because they increase the risk of skin cancer – are being rebranded as “collarium” sunbeds (“coll” being short for collagen).

    Commercial tanning and beauty salons in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria are marketing collariums, with manufacturers and operators claiming they provide a longer lasting tan and stimulate collagen production, among other purported benefits.

    A collarium sunbed emits both UV radiation and a mix of visible wavelength colours to produce a pink or red light. Like an old-school sunbed, the user lies in it for ten to 20 minute sessions to quickly develop a tan.

    But as several experts have argued, the providers’ claims about safety and effectiveness don’t stack up.

    Why were sunbeds banned?

    Commercial sunbeds have been illegal across Australia since 2016 (except for in the Northern Territory) under state-based radiation safety laws. It’s still legal to sell and own a sunbed for private use.

    Their dangers were highlighted by young Australians including Clare Oliver who developed melanoma after using sunbeds. Oliver featured in the No Tan Is Worth Dying For campaign and died from her melanoma at age 26 in 2007.

    Sunbeds lead to tanning by emitting UV radiation – as much as six times the amount of UV we’re exposed to from the summer sun. When the skin detects enough DNA damage, it boosts the production of melanin, the brown pigment that gives you the tanned look, to try to filter some UV out before it hits the DNA. This is only partially successful, providing the equivalent of two to four SPF.

    Essentially, if your body is producing a tan, it has detected a significant amount of DNA damage in your skin.

    Research shows people who have used sunbeds at least once have a 41% increased risk of developing melanoma, while ten or more sunbed sessions led to a 100% increased risk.

    In 2008, Australian researchers estimated that each year, sunbeds caused 281 cases of melanoma, 2,572 cases of squamous cell carcinoma (another common type of skin cancer), and $3 million in heath-care costs, mostly to Medicare.

    How are collarium sunbeds supposed to be different?

    Australian sellers of collarium sunbeds imply they are safe, but their machine descriptions note the use of UV radiation, particularly UVA.

    UVA is one part of the spectrum of UV radiation. It penetrates deeper into the skin than UVB. While UVB promotes cancer-causing mutations by discharging energy straight into the DNA strand, UVA sets off damage by creating reactive oxygen species, which are unstable compounds that react easily with many types of cell structures and molecules. These damage cell membranes, protein structures and DNA.

    Evidence shows all types of sunbeds increase the risk of melanoma, including those that use only UVA.

    Some manufacturers and clinics suggest the machine’s light spectrum increases UV compatibility, but it’s not clear what this means. Adding red or pink light to the mix won’t negate the harm from the UV. If you’re getting a tan, you have a significant amount of DNA damage.

    Collagen claims

    One particularly odd claim about collarium sunbeds is that they stimulate collagen.

    Collagen is the main supportive tissue in our skin. It provides elasticity and strength, and a youthful appearance. Collagen is constantly synthesised and broken down, and when the balance between production and recycling is lost, the skin loses strength and develops wrinkles. The collagen bundles become thin and fragmented. This is a natural part of ageing, but is accelerated by UV exposure.

    Sun-damaged skin and sun-protected skin from the same person, and the microscopic image of each showing how the collagen bundles have been thinned out in the sun-damaged skin.
    Sun-protected skin (top) has thick bands of pink collagen (arrows) in the dermis, as seen on microscopic examination. Chronically sun-damaged skin (bottom) has much thinner collagen bands.
    Katie Lee/UQ

    The reactive oxygen species generated by UVA light damage existing collagen structures and kick off a molecular chain of events that downgrades collagen-producing enzymes and increases collagen-destroying enzymes. Over time, a build-up of degraded collagen fragments in the skin promotes even more destruction.

    While there is growing evidence red light therapy alone could be useful in wound healing and skin rejuvenation, the UV radiation in collarium sunbeds is likely to undo any benefit from the red light.

    What about phototherapy?

    There are medical treatments that use controlled UV radiation doses to treat chronic inflammatory skin diseases like psoriasis.

    The anti-collagen effects of UVA can also be used to treat thickened scars and keloids. Side-effects of UV phototherapy include tanning, itchiness, dryness, cold sore virus reactivation and, notably, premature skin ageing.

    These treatments use the minimum exposure necessary to treat the condition, and are usually restricted to the affected body part to minimise risks of future cancer. They are administered under medical supervision and are not recommended for people already at high risk of skin cancer, such as people with atypical moles.

    So what happens now?

    It looks like many collariums are just sunbeds rebranded with red light. Queensland Health is currently investigating whether these salons are breaching the state’s Radiation Safety Act, and operators could face large fines.

    As the 2024 Australians of the Year – melanoma treatment pioneers Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer – highlighted in their acceptance speech, “there is nothing healthy about a tan”, and we need to stop glamorising tanning.

    However, if you’re desperate for the tanned look, there is a safer and easy way to get one – out of a bottle or by visiting a salon for a spray tan.The Conversation

    Katie Lee, PhD Candidate, Dermatology Research Centre, The University of Queensland and Anne Cust, Professor of Cancer Epidemiology, University of Sydney

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

    Don’t Forget…

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  • The Recipe For Empowered Leadership – by Doug Meyer-Cuno

    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.

    This is not a “here’s how to become a leader, you young would-be Machiavelli”; it’s more a “so you’re in a leadership role; now what?” book. The book’s subtitle describes well its contents: “25 Ingredients For Creating Value & Empowering Others”

    The book is written with the voice of experience, but without the ego-driven padding that accompanies many such books. Especially: any anecdotal illustrations are short and to-the-point, no chapter-long diversions here.

    Which we love!

    Equally helpful is where the author does spend a little more time and energy: on the “down to brass tacks” of how exactly to do various things.

    In short: if instead of a lofty-minded book of vague idealized notions selling a pipedream, you’d rather have a manual of how to actually be a good leader when it comes down to it, this is the book for you.

    Pick Up The Recipe For Empowered Leadership On Amazon Today!

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