Healing Cracked Fingers

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It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!

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

❝Question. Suffer from cracked (split) finger tips in the cold weather. Very painful, is there something I can take to ward off this off. Appreciate your daily email.❞

Ouch, painful indeed! Aside from good hydration (which is something we easily forget in cold weather), there’s no known internal guard against this*, but from the outside, oil-based moisturizers are the way to go.

Olive oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, and shea butter are all fine options.

If the skin is broken such that infection is possible, then starting with an antiseptic ointment/cream is sensible. A good example product is Savlon, unless you are allergic to its active ingredient chlorhexidine.

*However, if perchance you are also suffering from peripheral neuropathy (a common comorbidity of cracked skin in the extremities), then lion’s main mushroom can help with that.

Writer’s anecdote: I myself started suffering from peripheral neuropathy in my hands earlier this year, doubtlessly due to some old injuries of mine.

However, upon researching for the above articles, I was inspired to try lion’s mane mushroom for myself. I take it daily, and have now been free of symptoms of peripheral neuropathy for several months.

Here’s an example product on Amazon, by the way

Enjoy!

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  • We looked at genetic clues to depression in more than 14,000 people. What we found may surprise you

    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.

    The core experiences of depression – changes in energy, activity, thinking and mood – have been described for more than 10,000 years. The word “depression” has been used for about 350 years.

    Given this long history, it may surprise you that experts don’t agree about what depression is, how to define it or what causes it.

    But many experts do agree that depression is not one thing. It’s a large family of illnesses with different causes and mechanisms. This makes choosing the best treatment for each person challenging.

    Reactive vs endogenous depression

    One strategy is to search for sub-types of depression and see whether they might do better with different kinds of treatments. One example is contrasting “reactive” depression with “endogenous” depression.

    Reactive depression (also thought of as social or psychological depression) is presented as being triggered by exposure to stressful life events. These might be being assaulted or losing a loved one – an understandable reaction to an outside trigger.

    Endogenous depression (also thought of as biological or genetic depression) is proposed to be caused by something inside, such as genes or brain chemistry.

    Many people working clinically in mental health accept this sub-typing. You might have read about this online.

    But we think this approach is way too simple.

    While stressful life events and genes may, individually, contribute to causing depression, they also interact to increase the risk of someone developing depression. And evidence shows that there is a genetic component to being exposed to stressors. Some genes affect things such as personality. Some affect how we interact with our environments.

    What we did and what we found

    Our team set out to look at the role of genes and stressors to see if classifying depression as reactive or endogenous was valid.

    In the Australian Genetics of Depression Study, people with depression answered surveys about exposure to stressful life events. We analysed DNA from their saliva samples to calculate their genetic risk for mental disorders.

    Our question was simple. Does genetic risk for depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, anxiety and neuroticism (a personality trait) influence people’s reported exposure to stressful life events?

    Girl or teenager leaning against wall, hand across face, looking down
    We looked at the genetic risk of mental illness to see how that was linked to stressful life events, such as childhood abuse and neglect. Kamira/Shutterstock

    You may be wondering why we bothered calculating the genetic risk for mental disorders in people who already have depression. Every person has genetic variants linked to mental disorders. Some people have more, some less. Even people who already have depression might have a low genetic risk for it. These people may have developed their particular depression from some other constellation of causes.

    We looked at the genetic risk of conditions other than depression for a couple of reasons. First, genetic variants linked to depression overlap with those linked to other mental disorders. Second, two people with depression may have completely different genetic variants. So we wanted to cast a wide net to look at a wider spectrum of genetic variants linked to mental disorders.

    If reactive and endogenous depression sub-types are valid, we’d expect people with a lower genetic component to their depression (the reactive group) would report more stressful life events. And we’d expect those with a higher genetic component (the endogenous group) would report fewer stressful life events.

    But after studying more than 14,000 people with depression we found the opposite.

    We found people at higher genetic risk for depression, anxiety, ADHD or schizophrenia say they’ve been exposed to more stressors.

    Assault with a weapon, sexual assault, accidents, legal and financial troubles, and childhood abuse and neglect, were all more common in people with a higher genetic risk of depression, anxiety, ADHD or schizophrenia.

    These associations were not strongly influenced by people’s age, sex or relationships with family. We didn’t look at other factors that may influence these associations, such as socioeconomic status. We also relied on people’s memory of past events, which may not be accurate.

    How do genes play a role?

    Genetic risk for mental disorders changes people’s sensitivity to the environment.

    Imagine two people, one with a high genetic risk for depression, one with a low risk. They both lose their jobs. The genetically vulnerable person experiences the job loss as a threat to their self-worth and social status. There is a sense of shame and despair. They can’t bring themselves to look for another job for fear of losing it too. For the other, the job loss feels less about them and more about the company. These two people internalise the event differently and remember it differently.

    Genetic risk for mental disorders also might make it more likely people find themselves in environments where bad things happen. For example, a higher genetic risk for depression might affect self-worth, making people more likely to get into dysfunctional relationships which then go badly.

    Middle aged man looking sad, leaning on sofa, staring into distance
    If two people lose their jobs, one with a high genetic risk of depression the other at low risk, both will experience and remember the event differently. Inside Creative House/Shutterstock

    What does our study mean for depression?

    First, it confirms genes and environments are not independent. Genes influence the environments we end up in, and what then happens. Genes also influence how we react to those events.

    Second, our study doesn’t support a distinction between reactive and endogenous depression. Genes and environments have a complex interplay. Most cases of depression are a mix of genetics, biology and stressors.

    Third, people with depression who appear to have a stronger genetic component to their depression report their lives are punctuated by more serious stressors.

    So clinically, people with higher genetic vulnerability might benefit from learning specific techniques to manage their stress. This might help some people reduce their chance of developing depression in the first place. It might also help some people with depression reduce their ongoing exposure to stressors.

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

    Jacob Crouse, Research Fellow in Youth Mental Health, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney and Ian Hickie, Co-Director, Health and Policy, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney

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

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  • Ready… Set… Flow!

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    Time to make your new year plans? Or maybe you’ve already made a list, and you’re checking it twice. If so, now’s the time to make sure that your new year’s plans will flow:

    “Flow”, as you may be aware, is the psychological state generally defined as “a state in which we feel good about what we’re doing, and just keep doing it, at a peak performance level”; the term was coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and has risen to popularity since.

    We wrote about it a little before, here:

    Morning Routines That Just Flow

    The above article details how to start the perfect day, but how to start the perfect year? Firstly, it’s good to get the jump on the new year a little; see:

    The Science Of New Year’s Pre-Resolutions

    …and we also agree with Dr. Faye Bate, who preaches taking the path of least resistance when it comes to healthy habits:

    How To Actually Start A Healthy Lifestyle In The New Year

    Because…

    Getting into the flow

    The most hydrating drink is the one that [contains adequate water and] you will actually drink. The best exercise is the one you’ll do. The best sleep is the sleep you can actually get. And so on.

    We see this—or rather its evil counterpoint—a lot in diet culture. People frame their willpower against the temptations of donuts and whatever, and make Faustian bargains whereby they will eat food they find boring in the hopes it will bring them good health. And it won’t. Because, they’ll give up quickly.

    Instead, each part of our healthy life has to be engaged with with a sense of flow. Again, that’s: “a state in which we feel good about what we’re doing, and just keep doing it, at a peak performance level”

    So we need to find healthy recipes we like (check out our recipe section!), we need to find exercise that we like, we need to find an approach to sleep that the Geneva Convention wouldn’t consider a kind a torture, and so forth. And, ideally, not just “like” in the sense of “this is tolerable” but “like” in the sense of “I am truly passionate about this thing”.

    And that’s going to look different for each of us.

    Running is a great example of something that some people truly love, whereas others will do almost anything to avoid.

    And food? We’ve written before about the usefulness of a “to don’t” list; it’s like a “to do” list, but it’s things we’re not going to even try to do. For example, a person with two addictions is usually advised to quit one at a time, so quitting the other would go on a “to don’t” list for now. The same goes for food; you need to enjoy what you’re eating or you won’t “feel good about what we’re doing, and just keep doing it”, per flow. So, do not deprive yourself; it won’t work anyway; just pick one healthy change to make, and then queue up any other changes for once the first one has started feeling natural to you.

    For more on “to don’t” lists and other such tricks, see: How To Keep On Keeping On… Long Term!

    Staying in the flow

    …is not usually a problem, you would think, because “…and just keep doing it, at peak performance level” but the fact is, sometimes we get kicked out of our flow by something external. We covered some of that in the above-linked “How To Keep On Keeping On” article, such as figuring out showstoppers in advance (for example, “if I get an injury, I will rest until it is healed”) and ideally, back-up plans.

    For example, let’s say you have your dietary plan all worked out, then you are invited to someone’s birthday celebration a couple of weeks in, and you don’t want to rain on their parade, so you figure out for yourself in advance how you are going to mitigate any harm to your plans, e.g. “I will simply choose the healthiest option available, and not worry if it doesn’t meet my usual standards” or “I will simply fast” if that’s an appropriate thing for you (for some it might be, for some it might not be).

    For more on this, see:

    How To Avoid Slipping Into (Bad) Old Habits

    Take care!

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  • Parenting a perfectionist? Here’s how you can respond

    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.

    Some children show signs of perfectionism from early on. Young children might become frustrated and rip up their drawing if it’s not quite right. Older children might avoid or refuse to do homework because they’re afraid to make a mistake.

    Perfectionism can lead to children feeling overwhelmed, angry and frustrated, or sad and withdrawn.

    And yet perfectionism isn’t considered all bad in our society. Being called a “perfectionist” can be a compliment – code for being a great worker or student, someone who strives to do their best and makes sure all jobs are done well.

    These seemingly polarised views reflect the complex nature of perfectionism.

    Annie Spratt/Unsplash

    What is perfectionism?

    Researchers often separate perfectionism into two parts:

    1. perfectionistic strivings: being determined to meet goals and achieve highly
    2. perfectionistic concerns: worry about being able to meet high standards, and self-criticism about performance.

    While perfectionistic strivings can be positive and lead to high achievement, perfectionistic concerns can lead to a higher chance of children developing eating disorders or anxiety and depression, and having lower academic achievement.

    Children doing maths homework
    Perfectionistic concerns can result in lower academic achievement. Jessica Lewis/Unsplash

    Children and adolescents may experience perfectionism in relation to school work, sport, performance in art or music, or in relation to their own body.

    Signs of perfectionistic concerns in children and adolescents may include:

    A range of genetic, biological and environmental factors influence perfectionism in children. And as a parent, our role is important. While research evidence suggests we can’t successfully increase positive perfectionistic strivings in our children, harsh or controlling parenting can increase negative perfectionistic concerns in children.

    Parents who are perfectionistic themselves can also model this to their children.

    So, how can we walk the line between supporting our child’s interests and helping them to achieve their potential, without pressuring them and increasing the risk of negative outcomes?

    Give them space to grow

    A great metaphor is the gardener versus the carpenter described by psychology professor Alison Gopnik.

    Instead of trying to build and shape our children by controlling them and their environment (like a carpenter), parents can embrace the spirit of the gardener – providing lots of space for children to grow in their own direction, and nourishing them with love, respect and trust.

    Girl runs up a hill in winter
    Parents don’t need to control their child and their environment. Noah Silliman/Unsplash

    We can’t control who they become, so it’s better to sit back, enjoy the ride, and look forward to watching the person they grow into.

    However, there is still plenty we can do as parents if our child is showing signs of perfectionism. We can role model to our children how to set realistic goals and be flexible when things change or go wrong, help our children manage stress and negative emotions, and create healthy balance in our family daily routine.

    Set realistic goals

    People with perfectionistic tendencies will often set unattainable goals. We can support the development of flexibility and realistic goal setting by asking curious questions, for example, “what would you need to do to get one small step closer to this goal?” Identifying upper and lower limits for goals is also helpful.

    If your child is fixed on a high score at school, for example, set that as the “upper limit” and then support them to identify a “lower limit” they would find acceptable, even if they are less happy with the outcome.

    This strategy may take time and practice to widen the gap between the two, but is useful to create flexibility over time.

    If a goal is performance-based and the outcome cannot be guaranteed (for example, a sporting competition), encourage your child to set a personal goal they have more control over.

    Child rides bike up ramp
    Parents can help children set goals they can achieve. liz99/Unsplash

    We can also have conversations about perfectionism from early on, and explain that everyone makes mistakes. In fact, it’s great to model this to our children – talking about our own mistakes and feelings, to show them that we ourselves are not perfect.

    Talk aloud practices can help children to see that we “walk the walk”. For example, if you burn dinner you could reflect:

    I’m disappointed because I put time and effort into that and it didn’t turn out as I expected. But we all make mistakes. I don’t get things right every time.

    Manage stress and negative emotions

    Some children and adolescents have a natural tendency towards perfectionism. Rather than trying to control their behaviour, we can provide gentle, loving support.

    When our child or adolescent becomes frustrated, angry, sad or overwhelmed, we support them best by helping them to name, express and validate all of their emotions.

    Parents may fear that acknowledging their child’s negative emotions will make the emotions worse, but the opposite is true.

    Creating healthy balance

    The building blocks of healthy child development are strong loving family relationships, good nutrition, creative play and plenty of physical activity, sleep and rest.

    Perfectionism is associated with rigidity, and thinking that there is only one correct way to succeed. We can instead encourage flexibility and creativity in children.

    Children’s brains grow through play. There is strong research evidence showing that creative, child-led play is associated with higher emotion regulation skills, and a range of cognitive skills, including problem-solving, memory, planning, flexibility and decision-making.

    Girl runs while playing a game
    Play helps children’s brains grow. Mi Pham/Unsplash

    Play isn’t just for young children either – there’s evidence that explorative, creative play of any kind also benefits adolescents and adults.

    There is also evidence that getting active outdoors in nature can promote children’s coping skills, emotion regulation and cognitive development.

    Elizabeth Westrupp, Associate Professor in Psychology, Deakin University; Gabriella King, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University, and Jade Sheen, Associate Professor, School of Psychology, Deakin University

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

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  • Prostate Health: What You Should Know

    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.

    Prostate Health: What You Should Know

    We’re aware that very many of our readers are women, who do not have a prostate.

    However, dear reader: if you do have one, and/or love someone who has one, this is a good thing to know about.

    The prostate gland is a (hopefully) walnut-sized gland (it actually looks a bit like a walnut too), that usually sits just under the bladder.

    See also: How to Locate Your Prostate*

    *The scale is not great in these diagrams, but they’ll get the job done. Besides, everyone is different on the inside, anyway. Not in a “special unique snowflake” way, but in a “you’d be surprised how much people’s insides move around” way.

    Fun fact: did you ever feel like your intestines are squirming? That’s because they are.

    You can’t feel it most of the time due to the paucity of that kind of nervous sensation down there, but the peristaltic motion that they use to move food along them on the inside, also causes them push against the rest of your guts, on the outside of them. This is the exact same way that many snakes move about.

    If someone has to perform an operation in that region, sometimes it will be necessary to hang the intestines on a special rack, to keep them in one place for the surgery.

    What can go wrong?

    There are two very common things that can go wrong with the prostate:

    1. Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH), otherwise known as an enlarged prostate
    2. Prostate cancer

    For most men, the prostate gland continues to grow with age, which is how the former comes about so frequently.

    For everyone, due to the nature of the mathematics involved in cellular mutation and replication, we will eventually get cancer if something else doesn’t kill us first.

    • Prostate cancer affects 12% of men overall, and 60% of men aged 60+, with that percentage climbing each year thereafter.
    • Prostate cancer can look like BPH in the early stages (and/or, an enlarged prostate can turn cancerous) so it’s important to not shrug off the symptoms of BPH.

    How can BPH be avoided/managed?

    There are prescription medications that can help reduce the size of the prostate, including testosterone blockers (such as spironolactone and bicalutamide) and 5α-reductase inhibitors, such as finasteride. Each have their pros and cons:

    • Testosterone-blockers are the heavy-hitters, and work very well… but have more potential adverse side effects (your body is used to running on testosterone, after all)
    • 5α-reductase inhibitors aren’t as powerful, but they block the conversion of free testosterone to dihydrogen testosterone (DHT), and it’s primarily DHT that causes the problems. By blocking the conversion of T to DHT, you may actually end up with higher serum testosterone levels, but fewer ill-effects. Exact results will vary depending on your personal physiology, and what else you are taking, though.

    There are also supplements that can help, including saw palmetto and pumpkin seed oil. Here’s a good paper that covers both:

    Effects of pumpkin seed oil and saw palmetto oil in Korean men with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia

    We have recommended saw palmetto before for a variety of uses, including against BPH:

    Too much or too little testosterone? This one supplement may fix that

    You might want to avoid certain medications that can worsen BPH symptoms (but not actually the size of the prostate itself). They include:

    • Antihistamines
    • Decongestants
    • Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
    • Tricyclic antidepressants (most modern antidepressants aren’t this kind; ask your pharmacist/doctor if unsure)

    You also might want to reduce/skip:

    • Alcohol
    • Caffeine

    In all the above cases, it’s because of how they affect the bladder, not the prostate, but given their neighborliness, each thing affects the other.

    What if it’s cancer? How do I know and what do I do?

    The creator of the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test has since decried it as “a profit-driven health disaster” that is “no better than a coin toss”, but it remains the first go-to of many medical services.

    However, there’s a newer, much more accurate test, called the Prostate Screening Episwitch (PSE) test, which is 94% accurate, so you might consider asking your healthcare provider whether that’s an option:

    The new prostate cancer blood test with 94 per cent accuracy

    As for where to go from there, we’re out of space for today, but we previously reviewed a very good book about this, Dr. Patrick Walsh’s Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer, and we highly recommend it—it could easily be a literal lifesaver.

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  • What Actually Causes High Cholesterol?

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    In 1968, the American Heart Association advised limiting egg consumption to three per week due to cholesterol concerns linked to cardiovascular disease. Which was reasonable based on the evidence available back then, but it didn’t stand the test of time.

    Eggs are indeed high in cholesterol, but that doesn’t mean that those who eat them will also be high in cholesterol, because…

    It’s not quite what many people think

    Some quite dietary pointers to start with:

    • Egg yolks are high in cholesterol but have a minimal impact on blood cholesterol.
    • Saturated and trans fats (as found in fatty meats or dairy, and some processed foods) have a greater influence on LDL levels than dietary cholesterol.

    And on the other hand:

    • Unsaturated fats (e.g. from fish, nuts, seeds) have anti-inflammatory benefits
    • Fiber-rich foods help lower LDL by affecting fat absorption in the digestive tract

    A quick primer on LDL and other kinds of cholesterol:

    • VLDL (Very Low-Density Lipoprotein):
      • delivers triglycerides and cholesterol to muscle and fat cells for energy
      • is converted into LDL after delivery
    • LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein):
      • is called “bad cholesterol”, which we call that due to its role in arterial plaque formation
      • in excess leads to inflammation, overworked macrophage activity, and artery narrowing
    • HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein):
      • known as “good cholesterol,” picks up excess LDL and returns it to the liver for excretion
      • is anti-inflammatory, in addition to regulating LDL levels

    There are other factors too, for example:

    • Smoking and drinking increase LDL buildup and cause oxidative damage to lipids in general and the blood vessels through which they travel
    • Regular exercise, meanwhile, can lower LDL and raise HDL
    • Statins and other medications can help lower LDL and manage cholesterol when lifestyle changes and genetics require additional support—but they often come with serious side effects, and the usefulness varies from person to person.

    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:

    Take care!

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  • Monosodium Glutamate: Sinless Flavor-Enhancer Or Terrible Health Risk?

    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.

    What’s The Deal With MSG?

    There are a lot of popular beliefs about MSG. Is there a grain of truth, or should we take them with a grain of salt? We’ll leap straight into myth-busting:

    MSG is high in salt

    True (technically) False (practically)

    • MSG is a salt (a monosodium salt of L-glutamic acid), but to call it “full of salt” in practical terms is like calling coffee “full of fruit”. (Coffee beans are botanically fruit)
    • It does contain sodium, though which is what the S stands for!
    • We talked previously about how MSG’s sodium content is much lower than that of (table) salt. Specifically, it’s about one third of that of sodium chloride (e.g. table salt).

    MSG triggers gluten sensitivity

    False!

    Or at least, because this kind of absolute negative is hard to prove in science, what we can say categorically is: it does not contain gluten. We understand that the similar name can cause that confusion. However:

    • Gluten is a protein, found in wheat (and thus wheat-based foods).
    • Glutamate is an amino acid, found in protein-rich foods.
    • If you’re thinking “but proteins are made from amino acids”, yes, they are, but the foundational amino acid of gluten is glutamine, not glutamate. Different bricks → different house!

    The body can’t process MSG correctly

    False!

    The body has glutamate receptors throughout the gut and nervous system.

    The body metabolizes glutamate from MSG just the same as from any other food that contains it naturally.

    Read: Update on food safety of monosodium l-glutamate (MSG) ← evidence-based safety review

    MSG causes “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”

    False!

    Racism causes that. It finds its origins in what was originally intended as a satirical joke, that the papers picked up and ran with, giving it that name in the 1960s. As to why it grew and persisted, that has more to do with US politics (the US has been often at odds with China for a long time) and xenophobia (people distrust immigrants, such as those who opened restaurants), including nationalistic rhetoric associating immigrants with diseases.

    Read: Xenophobia in America in the Age of Coronavirus and Beyond ← academic paper that gives quite a compact yet comprehensive overview

    Research science, meanwhile, has not found any such correlation, in more than 40 years of looking.

    PS: we realize this item in the list is very US-centric. Apologies to our non-US subscribers. We know that this belief isn’t so much of a thing outside the US—though it certainly can crop up elsewhere sometimes, too.

    Are there any health risks associated with MSG, then?

    Well, as noted, it does contain sodium, albeit much less than table salt. So… do go easy on it, all the same.

    Aside from that, the LD50 (a way of measuring toxicity) of MSG is 15.8g/kg, so if for example you weigh 150lb (68 kg), don’t eat 2.2lb (a kilogram) of MSG.

    There have been some studies on rats (or in one case, fruit flies) that found high doses of MSG could cause heart problems and/or promote obesity. However:

    • this has not been observed to be the case in humans
    • those doses were really high, ranging from 1g/kg to 8g/kg. So that’d be the equivalent of our 150lb person eating it by the cupful
    • it was injected (as a solution) into the rats, not ingested by them
    • so don’t let someone inject you with a cup of MSG!

    Read: A review of the alleged health hazards of monosodium glutamate

    Bottom line on MSG and health:

    Enjoy in moderation, but enjoy if you wish! MSG is just the salt form of the amino acid glutamate, which is found naturally in many foods, including shrimp, seaweed, and tomatoes.

    Scientists have spent more than 40 years trying to find health risks for MSG, and will probably keep trying (which is as science should be), but for now… Everything has either come up negative, or has been the result of injecting laboratory animals with megadoses.

    If you’d like to try it in your cooking as a low-sodium way to bring out the flavor of your dishes, you can order it online. Cheapest in bulk, but try it and see if you like it first!

    (I’ll be real with you… I have 5 kg in the pantry myself and use about half a teaspoon a day, cooking for two)

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