End Your Carb Confusion – by Dr. Eric Westman & Amy Berger

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Carbs can indeed be confusing! We’ve written about it ourselves before, but there’s more to be said than fits in a single article, and sometimes a book is in order. This one is such a book.

The authors (an MD and a nutritionist) explain the ins and outs of carbohydrates of various kinds, insulin responses, and what that means for the body. They also then look at the partly-similar, partly-different processes that occur with the metabolism of fats of various kinds, and what that means for the body, too.

Ultimately they advocate for a simple and clear low-carb approach broadly consistent with keto diet macro principles, without getting too overly focused on “is this fruit/vegetable ok?” minutiae. This has the benefit of putting it well aside from the paleo diet, for example (which focuses more on pseudo-historical foods than it does on macros), and also makes it a lot easier on a practical level.

The style is very textbook-like, which makes for an easy read with plenty of information that should stick easily in most reader’s minds, rather than details getting lost in wall-of-text formatting. So, we approve of this.

There is not, by the way, a recipes section. It’s “here’s the information, now go forth and enjoy” and leaves us all to find/make our own recipes, rather than trying to guess our culinary preferences.

Bottom line: if you’d like an easy-to-read primer on understanding how carbs work, what it means for you, and what to do about it, then this is a fine book.

Click here to check out End Your Carb Confusion, and end your carb confusion!

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  • A Cold Shower A Day Keeps The Doctor Away?

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    A Cold Shower A Day Keeps The Doctor Away?

    This is Dutch extreme athlete Wim Hof, also known as “The Iceman”! He’s broken many world records mostly relating to the enduring the cold, for example:

    • climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts
    • running a half-marathon above the Arctic Circle barefoot
    • standing in a container completely covered with ice cubes for more than 112 minutes

    You might not want to do yoga in your pyjamas on an iceberg, but you might like…

    • better circulatory health
    • reduced risk of stroke
    • a boosted immune system
    • healthier skin
    • more energy and alertness

    …and things like that. Wim Hof’s method is not just about extreme athletic achievements; most of what he does, the stuff that can benefit the rest of us, is much more prosaic.

    The Wim Hof Method

    For Wim Hof, three things are key:

    Today, we’re going to be focusing on the last one there.

    What are the benefits of Cold Therapy?

    Once upon a time, we didn’t have central heating, electric blankets, thermal underwear, and hot showers. In fact, once upon a time, we didn’t have houses or clothes. We used to be a lot more used to the elements! And while it’s all well and good to enjoy modern comforts, it has left our bodies lacking practice.

    Practice at what? Most notably: vasodilation and vasoconstriction, in response to temperature changes. Either:

    • vasodilation, because part of our body needs more blood to keep it warm and nourished, or
    • vasoconstriction, because part of our body needs less blood running through it to get cooled down.

    Switching between the two gives the blood vessels practice at doing it, and improves vascular muscle tone. If your body doesn’t get that practice, your blood vessels will be sluggish at making the change. This can cause circulation problems, which in turn have a big impact in many other areas of health, including:

    • cardiovascular disease
    • stroke risk
    • mood instability
    • nerve damage in extremities

    On the flipside, if the blood vessels do get regular practice at dilating and constricting, you might enjoy lower risk of those things, and instead:

    • improved immune response
    • healthier skin
    • better quality sleep
    • more energy and alertness
    • improved sexual performance/responsiveness

    So, how to get that, without getting extreme?

    As today’s title suggests, “a cold shower a day” is a great practice.

    You don’t have to jump straight in, especially if you think your circulation and vascular responses might be a bit sluggish in the first instance. In fact, Wim Hof recommends:

    • Week 1: Thirty seconds of cold water at the end of a warm shower each morning
    • Week 2: One minute of cold water at the end of a warm shower each morning
    • Week 3: A minute and a half of cold water at the end of a warm shower each morning
    • Week 4: Two minutes of cold water at the end of a warm shower each morning

    How cold is cold?

    The benefits of cold exposure begin at around 16ºC / 60ºF, so in most places, water from the cold water mains is sufficiently cold.

    As your body becomes more used to making the quick-change on a vascular level, the cold water will seem less shocking to your system. In other words, on day 30 it won’t hit you like it did on day one.

    At that point, you can either continue with your two-minutes daily cold shower, and reap the benefits, or if you’re curious to push it further, that’s where ice baths come in!

    Can anyone do it, or are any conditions contraindicated?

    As ever, we’re a health and productivity newsletter, not doctors, let alone your doctors. Nothing here is medical advice. However, Wim Hof himself says:

    ❝Listen to your body, and never force the practices. We advise against doing Wim Hof Method if you are dealing with any of the following:

    • Epilepsy
    • High blood pressure
    • Coronary heart disease
    • A history of serious healthy issues like heart failure or stroke
    • Pregnancy*
    • Childhood*❞

    *There is simply not enough science regarding the effects of cold exposure on people who are pregnant, or children. Obviously, we don’t expect this to be remedied anytime soon, because the study insitutions’ ethics boards would (rightly!) hold up the study.

    As for the other conditions, and just generally if unsure, consult a doctor.

    As you can see, this does mean that a limitation of Cold Therapy is that it appears to be far better as a preventative, since it helps guard against the very conditions that could otherwise become contraindications.

    We haven’t peppered today’s main feature with study papers, partly because Wim Hof’s own website has kindly collated a collection of them (with links and summaries!) onto one page:

    Further reading: The Science Behind The Wim Hof Method

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  • Revealed: The Soviet Secret Recipe For Success That The CIA Admits Put The US To Shame

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    Today’s edition of 10almonds brings you a blast from the past with a modern twist: an ancient Russian peasant food that became a Soviet staple, and today, is almost unknown in the West.

    Before we get to that, let’s take a sneaky look at this declassified CIA memorandum from near the end of the Cold War:

    (Click here to see a bigger version)

    The take-away here is:

    • Americans were eating 2–3 times more meat than Soviets
    • Soviets were eating nearly double the amount of grain products and potatoes

    …and both of these statistics meant that nutritionally speaking, the Soviets were doing better.

    Americans also consumed more sugar and fats, which again, wasn’t the best dietary option.

    But was the American diet tastier? Depends on whom you ask.

    Which brings us to a literal recipe we’re going to be sharing with you today:

    It’s not well-known in the West, but in Russia, it’s a famous national comfort food, a bastion of health and nutrition, and it rose to popularity because it was not only cheap and nutritious, but also, you could eat it for days without getting sick of it. And it could be easily frozen for reheating later without losing any of its appeal—it’d still be just as good.

    In Russia there are sayings about it:

    Щи да каша — пища наша (Shchi da kasha — pishcha nasha)

    Shchi and buckwheat are what we eat

    Top tip: buckwheat makes an excellent (and naturally sweet) alternative to porridge oats if prepared the same way!

    Где щи, там и нас ищи (Gdye shchi, tam i nas ishchi)

    Where there’s shchi, us you’ll see

    Голь голью, а луковка во щах есть (Gol’ gol’yu, a lukovka vo shchakh yest’)

    I’m stark naked, but there’s shchi with onions

    There’s a very strong sentiment in Russia that really, all you need is shchi (shchi, shchi… shchi is all you need )

    But what, you may ask, is shchi?

    Our culinary cultural ambassador Nastja is here to offer her tried-and-tested recipe for…

    …Russian cabbage soup (yes, really—bear with us now, and you can thank us later)

    There are a lot of recipes for shchi (see for yourself what the Russian version of Lifehacker recommends), and we’ll be offering our favorite…

    Nastja’s Nutritious and Delicious Homemade Shchi

    Hi, Nastja here! I’m going to share with you my shchi recipe that is:

    • Cheap
    • So tasty
    • Super nutritious*
    • Vegan
    • Gluten Free

    You will also need:

    • A cabbage (I use sweetheart, but any white cabbage will do)
    • 1 cup (250g) red lentils (other kinds of lentils will work too)
    • ½ lb or so (250–300g) tomatoes (I use baby plum tomatoes, but any kind will do)
    • ½ lb or so (250–300g) mushrooms (the edible kind)
    • An onion (I use a brown onion; any kind will do)
    • Salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, parsley, cumin
    • Marmite or similar yeast extract (do you hate it? Me too. Trust me, it’ll be fine, you’ll love it. Omit if you’re a coward.)
    • A little oil for sautéing (I use sunflower, but canola is fine, as is soy oil. Do not use olive oil or coconut oil, because the taste is too strong and the flashpoint too low)

    First, what the French call mise-en-place, the prep work:

    1. Chop the cabbage into small strips, ⅛–¼ inch x 1 inch is a good guideline, but you can’t really go wrong unless you go to extremes
    2. Chop the tomatoes. If you’re using baby plum tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), cut them in half. If using larger tomatoes, cut them into eighths (halve them, halve the halves, then halve the quarters)
    3. Chop the mushrooms. If using button mushrooms, half them. If using larger mushrooms, quarter them.
    4. Chop the onion finely.
    5. Gather the following kitchenware: A big pan (stock pot or similar), a sauté pan (a big wok or frying pan will do), a small frying pan (here a wok will not do), and a saucepan (a rice cook will also do)

    Now, for actual cooking:

    1. Cook the red lentils until soft (I use a rice cooker, but a saucepan is fine) and set aside
    2. Sauté the cabbage, put it in the big pot (not yet on the heat!)
    3. Fry the mushrooms, put them in the big pot (still not yet on the heat!)

    When you’ve done this a few times and/or if you’re feeling confident, you can do the above simultaneously to save time

    1. Blend the lentils into the water you cooked them in, and then add to the big pot.
    2. Turn the heat on low, and if necessary, add more water to make it into a rich soup
    3. Add the seasonings to taste, except the parsley. Go easy on the cumin, be generous with the rosemary and thyme, let your heart guide you with the salt and pepper.
    4. When it comes to the yeast extract: add about one teaspoon and stir it into the pot. Even if you don’t like Marmite, it barely changes the flavour (makes it slightly richer) and adds a healthy dose of vitamin B12.

    We did not forget the tomatoes and the onion:

    1. Caramelize the onion (keep an eye on the big pot) and set it aside
    2. Fry the tomatoes and add them to the big pot

    Last but definitely not least:

    1. Serve!
    2. The caramelized onion is a garnish, so put a little on top of each bowl of shchi
    3. The parsley is also a garnish, just add a little

    Any shchi you don’t eat today will keep in the fridge for several days, or in the freezer for much longer.

    *That nutritious goodness I talked about? Check it out:

    • Lentils are high in protein and iron
    • Cabbage is high in vitamin C and calcium
    • Mushrooms are high in magnesium
    • Tomatoes are good against inflammation
    • Black pepper has a host of health benefits
    • Yeast extract contains vitamin B12

    Let us know how it went! We love to receive emails from our subscribers!

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  • Limitless Expanded Edition – by Jim Kwik

    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 a little flashier in presentation than we usually go for here, but the content is actually very good. Indeed, we’ve featured Jim Kwik before, with different, but also good content—in that case, physical exercises that strengthen the brain.

    This time, Kwik (interspersed with motivational speeches that you may or may not benefit from, but they are there) offers a step-by-step course in improving various metrics of cognitive ability. His methods were produced by trial and error, and now have been refined and enjoyed by man. If it sounds like a sales gimmick, it is a bit, but the good news is that everything you need to benefit is in the book; it’s not about upselling to a course or “advanced” books or whatnot.

    The style is enthusiastically conversational, and instructions when given (which is often) are direct and clear.

    Bottom line: one of the most critical abilities a brain can have is the ability to improve itself, so whatever level your various cognitive abilities are at right now, if you apply this book, you will almost certainly improve in one or more areas, which will make it worth the price of the book.

    Click here to check out Limitless, and find out what you can do!

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  • Why ’10almonds’? Newsletter Name Explained

    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!

    Each Thursday, we respond to subscriber questions and requests! If it’s something small, we’ll answer it directly; if it’s something bigger, we’ll do a main feature in a follow-up day instead!

    So, no question/request to big or small; they’ll just get sorted accordingly

    Remember, you can always hit reply to any of our emails, or use the handy feedback widget at the bottom. We always look forward to hearing from you!

    Q: Why is your newsletter called 10almonds? Maybe I missed it in the intro email, but my curiosity wants to know the significance. Thanks!”

    It’s a reference to a viral Facebook hoax! There was a post going around that claimed:

    ❝HEADACHE REMEDY. Eat 10–12 almonds, the equivalent of two aspirins, next time you have a headache❞ ← not true!

    It made us think about how much health-related disinformation there was online… So, calling ourselves 10almonds was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek reference to that story… but also a reminder to ourselves:

    We must always publish information with good scientific evidence behind it!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

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  • Broccoli vs Cabbage – 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 broccoli to cabbage, we picked the broccoli.

    Why?

    Here we go once again pitting two different cultivars of the same species (Brassica oleracea) against each other, and/but once again, there is one that comes out as nutritionally best.

    In terms of macros, broccoli has more protein, carbs, and fiber, while they are both low glycemic index foods. The differences are small though, so it’s fairest to call this category a tie.

    When it comes to vitamins, broccoli has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, C, E, K, and choline, while cabbage is not higher in any vitamins. It should be noted that cabbage is still good for these, especially vitamins C and K, but broccoli is simply better.

    In the category of minerals, broccoli has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while cabbage is not higher in any minerals. Again though, cabbage is still good, especially in calcium, iron, and manganese, but again, broccoli is simply better.

    Of course, enjoy either or both! But if you want the nutritionally densest option, it’s broccoli.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    What’s Your Plant Diversity Score?

    Take care!

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  • Why are tall people more likely to get cancer? What we know, don’t know and suspect

    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.

    People who are taller are at greater risk of developing cancer. The World Cancer Research Fund reports there is strong evidence taller people have a higher chance of of developing cancer of the:

    • pancreas
    • large bowel
    • uterus (endometrium)
    • ovary
    • prostate
    • kidney
    • skin (melanoma) and
    • breast (pre- and post-menopausal).

    But why? Here’s what we know, don’t know and suspect.

    Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio
    A tall woman and her partner are silhoutted against the sunset.
    Height does increase your cancer risk – but only by a very small amount. Christian Vinces/Shutterstock

    A well established pattern

    The UK Million Women Study found that for 15 of the 17 cancers they investigated, the taller you are the more likely you are to have them.

    It found that overall, each ten-centimetre increase in height increased the risk of developing a cancer by about 16%. A similar increase has been found in men.

    Let’s put that in perspective. If about 45 in every 10,000 women of average height (about 165 centimetres) develop cancer each year, then about 52 in each 10,000 women who are 175 centimetres tall would get cancer. That’s only an extra seven cancers.

    So, it’s actually a pretty small increase in risk.

    Another study found 22 of 23 cancers occurred more commonly in taller than in shorter people.

    Why?

    The relationship between height and cancer risk occurs across ethnicities and income levels, as well as in studies that have looked at genes that predict height.

    These results suggest there is a biological reason for the link between cancer and height.

    While it is not completely clear why, there are a couple of strong theories.

    The first is linked to the fact a taller person will have more cells. For example, a tall person probably has a longer large bowel with more cells and thus more entries in the large bowel cancer lottery than a shorter person.

    Scientists think cancer develops through an accumulation of damage to genes that can occur in a cell when it divides to create new cells.

    The more times a cell divides, the more likely it is that genetic damage will occur and be passed onto the new cells.

    The more damage that accumulates, the more likely it is that a cancer will develop.

    A person with more cells in their body will have more cell divisions and thus potentially more chance that a cancer will develop in one of them.

    Some research supports the idea having more cells is the reason tall people develop cancer more and may explain to some extent why men are more likely to get cancer than women (because they are, on average, taller than women).

    However, it’s not clear height is related to the size of all organs (for example, do taller women have bigger breasts or bigger ovaries?).

    One study tried to assess this. It found that while organ mass explained the height-cancer relationship in eight of 15 cancers assessed, there were seven others where organ mass did not explain the relationship with height.

    It is worth noting this study was quite limited by the amount of data they had on organ mass.

    A tall older man leans against a wall while his bicycle is parked nearby.
    Is it because tall people have more cells? Halfpoint/Shutterstock

    Another theory is that there is a common factor that makes people taller as well as increasing their cancer risk.

    One possibility is a hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). This hormone helps children grow and then continues to have an important role in driving cell growth and cell division in adults.

    This is an important function. Our bodies need to produce new cells when old ones are damaged or get old. Think of all the skin cells that come off when you use a good body scrub. Those cells need to be replaced so our skin doesn’t wear out.

    However, we can get too much of a good thing. Some studies have found people who have higher IGF-1 levels than average have a higher risk of developing breast or prostate cancer.

    But again, this has not been a consistent finding for all cancer types.

    It is likely that both explanations (more cells and more IGF-1) play a role.

    But more research is needed to really understand why taller people get cancer and whether this information could be used to prevent or even treat cancers.

    I’m tall. What should I do?

    If you are more LeBron James than Lionel Messi when it comes to height, what can you do?

    Firstly, remember height only increases cancer risk by a very small amount.

    Secondly, there are many things all of us can do to reduce our cancer risk, and those things have a much, much greater effect on cancer risk than height.

    We can take a look at our lifestyle. Try to:

    • eat a healthy diet
    • exercise regularly
    • maintain a healthy weight
    • be careful in the sun
    • limit alcohol consumption.

    And, most importantly, don’t smoke!

    If we all did these things we could vastly reduce the amount of cancer.

    You can also take part in cancer screening programs that help pick up cancers of the breast, cervix and bowel early so they can be treated successfully.

    Finally, take heart! Research also tells us that being taller might just reduce your chance of having a heart attack or stroke.

    Susan Jordan, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, The University of Queensland and Karen Tuesley, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Public Health, The University of Queensland

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

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    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

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