Futureproof – by Davinia Taylor
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 goal here is to put tools in the readers’ hands to (per the subtitle) “build resilience, feel younger, live longer”. The author herself is not a doctor or scientist, but a supplement company CEO and social media influencer—which means that in this book you’ll find quite a bit of awareness of health science advances made in the past 15 years, and no hard science.
In terms of health advocacy, one strength of this book is how it highlights, and puts into numbers, the time lag in “translational research”. What that means is that the most ground-breaking research discovering things now, won’t actually make its way through the system to become advice your doctor gives, for about 17 years on average. Which might be longer than you want to wait to address some problem.
She also, while not advocating for extreme changes, does tackle the idea of “relax, have fun, enjoy a little treat” when very often the “little treat” in question is alcohol addiction or obesity or a sedentary lifestyle or such—things that while they may present their comforts, often do not correlate to improving quality of life on balance, and indeed, often quite the contrary.
Her dietary advice is a little hit-and-miss; while she discourages ultraprocessed foods, she encourages getting plenty of dairy, something strongly associated with inflammation.
The style is very direct and personable, and/but has a normal British amount of casual swearing that might shock some American readers. The book is very jargon-free, and scientific concepts are presented in very simple terms, making this accessible to all. There is a modest bibliography, mostly to back up statistics.
Bottom line: if you’d like a book that has a fair “finger on the pulse” of modern longevity-promoting biohacking, but that isn’t a very dense read, then you’ll enjoy this.
Click here to check out Futureproof, and futureproof your health!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
Recommended
Learn to Age Gracefully
Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:
-
Dates vs Olives – 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 dates to olives, we picked the dates.
Why?
Both have their merits, but dates come out on top!
In terms of macros, dates have several times the fiber, carbs, and protein, while olives have more fat (healthy ones). On balance, we’ll call this round a tie.
In the category of vitamins, dates have more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, and K, while olives have more vitamin E, making this round an easy win for dates.
Looking at minerals next, dates have more magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while olives have more calcium, copper, and iron, yielding a 6:3 win to dates in this round.
In other considerations, olives have more polyphenols, even if dates are great for such too. So that’s a point for olives, finally.
Adding up the sections makes for an overall win for dates, but by all means enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
How Olives Can Help Protect Your Brain ← it’s about those polyphenols we mentioned
Enjoy!
Share This Post
-
Top 5 Foods Seniors Should Eat To Sleep Better Tonight (And 5 To Avoid)
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.
Dr. Michael Breus, a sleep specialist, advises:
A prescription for rest
Dr. Breus’s top 5 foods to eat for a good night’s sleep are:
1) Chia seeds: high in fiber, protein, omega-3s, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and tryptophan, they help raise melatonin levels for better sleep. The high fiber content also reduces late-night snacking, and in any case, it’s recommended to eat them 2–3 hours before bed. As for how, they can be added to smoothies, baked goods, salads, or made into chia seed pudding.
2) Nuts (especially pistachios & almonds): both of these nuts are rich in B vitamins and melatonin, so take your pick! He does recommend, however, no more than ¼ cup about 1.5 hours before bed. Either can be eaten as-is or with an unsweetened Greek yogurt.
3) Bananas (especially banana tea): contain magnesium, especially in the peel. Boil an organic banana (with peel) in water and drink the water, which provides magnesium and helps improve sleep. It’s recommended to drink it about an hour before bed.
10almonds tip: he doesn’t mention this, but if you prefer, you can also simply eat it—banana peel is perfectly edible, and is not tough when cooked. If you’ve ever had plantains, you’ll know how they are, and bananas (and their peel) are much softer than plantains. Boiling is fine, or alternatively you can wrap them in foil and bake them. The traditional way is to cook them in the leaves, but chances are you live somewhere that doesn’t grow bananas locally and so they didn’t come with leaves, so foil is fine.
4) Tart cherries: are rich in melatonin, antioxidants, and other anti-inflammatory compounds, which all help with falling asleep faster and reducing night awakenings. Can be consumed as juice, dried fruit, or tart cherry extract capsules. Suggested intake: once in the morning and once an hour before bed.
5) Kiwis: are high in serotonin, which aids melatonin production and sleep. This also helps regulate cortisol levels (lower cortisol promotes sleep). He recommends eating kiwi fruit about 2 hours before bed.
Also, in the category of foods (or rather: food types) to avoid before bed…
- High quantities of red meat: can disrupt sleep-related amino acid balance.
- Acidic foods: can cause acid reflux.
- High sugar foods: can slow melatonin production when consumed in the evening.
- Caffeine-rich foods & drinks: includes chocolate and coffee; avoid in the evening.
- Large meals before bed: digestion is less efficient when lying down, causing sleep disruption.
For more on all of these, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
Calculate (And Enjoy) The Perfect Night’s Sleep ← Our “Expert Insights” main feature on Dr. Breus
Take care!
Share This Post
-
Carrots vs Kale – 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 carrots to kale, we picked the kale.
Why?
Not entirely a like-for-like comparison here (root vegetable vs leafy greens), but these are both well-known as carotene-containing heavyweights, and kale emerges victorious:
In terms of macros, carrots have more carbs while kale has more protein and fiber. An easy first-round win here for kale.
In the category of vitamins, both are great! But, carrots contain more of vitamins A and B5, whereas kale contains more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B7, B9, C, E, and K. And while carrot’s strongest point is vitamin A, a cup of carrots contains around 10x the recommended daily dose of vitamin A, whereas a cup of kale contains “only” 6x the recommended daily dose of vitamin A. So, did we really need the extra in carrots? Probably not. And vitamin B5 is in almost all foods (its name, pantothenic acid, literally means “from everywhere”), so it’s very hard to be deficient in that unless literally starving to death. In any case, kale already won on overall vitamin coverage, by a long way.
Looking at minerals, kale again sweeps. On the one hand, carrots contain more sodium. On the other hand, kale contains a lot more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc. Not a tricky choice!
In other considerations, kale also has more polyphenols, most notably flavonols such as kaempferol and quercetin. So that’s another point in kale’s favor.
But don’t be fooled: carrots really are a nutritional powerhouse and a great food. Kale is just better—nutritionally speaking, in any case. If you’re making a carrot cake, please don’t try substituting kale; it will not work 😉
In any case, adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for kale, but by all means do enjoy either or both; diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
- Brain Food? The Eyes Have It!
- What Does Kaempferol Do, Anyway?
- Fight Inflammation & Protect Your Brain, With Quercetin
Take care!
Share This Post
Related Posts
-
The Age of Scientific Wellness – by Dr. Leroy Hood & Dr. Nathan Price
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.
We don’t usually do an author bio beyond mentioning their professional background, but in this case it’s worth mentioning that the first-listed author, Dr. Leroy Hood, is the one who invented the automated gene sequencing technology that made the Human Genome Project possible. In terms of awards, he’s won everything short of a Nobel Prize, and that’s probably less a snub and more a matter of how there isn’t a Nobel Prize for Engineering—his field is molecular biotechnology, but what he solved was an engineering problem.
In this book, the authors set out to make the case that “find it and fix it” medicine has done a respectable job of getting us where we are, but what we need now is P4 medicine:
- Predict
- Prevent
- Personalize
- Participate
The idea is that with adequate data (genomic, phenomic, and digital), we can predict the course of health sufficiently well to interrupt the process of disease at its actual (previously unseen) starting point, instead of waiting for symptoms to show up, thus preventing it proactively. The personalization is because this will not be a “one size fits all” approach, since our physiologies are different, our markers of health and disease will be somewhat too. And the participatory aspect? That’s because the only way to get enough data to do this for an entire population is with—more or less—an entire population’s involvement.
This is what happens when, for example, your fitness tracker asks if it can share anonymized health metrics for research purposes and you allow it—you are becoming part of the science (a noble and worthy act!).
You may be wondering whether this book has health advice, or is more about the big picture. And, the answer is both. It’s mostly about the big picture but it does have a lot of (data-driven!) health advice too, especially towards the end.
The style is largely narrative, talking the reader through the progresses (and setbacks) that have marked the path so far, and projecting the next part of the journey, in the hope that we can avoid being part of a generation born just too late to take advantage of this revolutionary approach to health.
Bottom line: this isn’t a very light read, but it is a worthwhile one, and it’ll surely inspire you to increase the extent to which you are proactive about your health!
Click here to check out The Age Of Scientific Wellness, and be part of 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
Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:
-
Kiwi vs Passion Fruit – 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 kiwi to passion fruit, we picked the passion fruit.
Why?
This fruit is so passionate about delivery nutrient-dense goodness, that at time of writing, nothing has beaten it yet!
In terms of macros, passion fruit has a little more protein, as well as 50% more carbs, and/but more than 3x the fiber. That last stat is particularly impressive, and also results in passion fruit having a much lower glycemic index, too. In short, a clear win for passion fruit in the macros category.
In the category of vitamins, kiwi has more of vitamins B9, C, E, and K, while passion fruit has more of vitamins A, B2, B3, and B6, making for a tie this time.
As for minerals, kiwi has more calcium, copper, manganese, and zinc, while passion fruit has more iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium, resulting in a modest, marginal win for passion fruit in this category.
Adding up the categories gives a convincing win for passion fruit, but by all means enjoy either or both; diversity is good! And kiwi has its merits too (for example, it’s particularly high in vitamin K, appropriately enough).
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
Top 8 Fruits That Prevent & Kill Cancer
Enjoy!
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
Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:
-
Long COVID is real—here’s how patients can get treatment and support
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 you need to know
- There is still no single, FDA-approved treatment for long COVID, but doctors can help patients manage individual symptoms.
- Long COVID patients may be eligible for government benefits that can ease financial burdens.
- Getting reinfected with COVID-19 can worsen existing long COVID symptoms, but patients can take steps to stay protected.
On March 15—Long COVID Awareness Day—patients shared their stories and demanded more funding for long COVID research. Nearly one in five U.S. adults who contract COVID-19 suffer from long COVID, and up to 5.8 million children have the disease.
Anyone who contracts COVID-19 is at risk of developing long-term illness. Long COVID has been deemed by some a “mass-disabling event,” as its symptoms can significantly disrupt patients’ lives.
Fortunately, there’s hope. New treatment options are in development, and there are resources available that may ease the physical, mental, and financial burdens that long COVID patients face.
Read on to learn more about resources for long COVID patients and how you can support the long COVID patients in your life.
What is long COVID, and who is at risk?
Long COVID is a cluster of symptoms that can occur after a COVID-19 infection and last for weeks, months, or years, potentially affecting almost every organ. Symptoms range from mild to debilitating and may include fatigue, chest pain, brain fog, dizziness, abdominal pain, joint pain, and changes in taste or smell.
Anyone who gets infected with COVID-19 is at risk of developing long COVID, but some groups are at greater risk, including unvaccinated people, women, people over 40, and people who face health inequities.
What types of support are available for long COVID patients?
Currently, there is still no single, FDA-approved treatment for long COVID, but doctors can help patients manage individual symptoms. Some options for long COVID treatment include therapies to improve lung function and retrain your sense of smell, as well as medications for pain and blood pressure regulation. Staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccines may also improve symptoms and reduce inflammation.
Long COVID patients are eligible for disability benefits under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Pandemic Legal Assistance Network provides pro bono support for long COVID patients applying for these benefits.
Long COVID patients may also be eligible for other forms of government assistance, such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, and rental and utility assistance programs.
How can friends and family of long COVID patients provide support?
Getting reinfected with COVID-19 can worsen existing long COVID symptoms. Wearing a high-quality, well-fitting mask will reduce your risk of contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to long COVID patients and others. At indoor gatherings, improving ventilation by opening doors and windows, using high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, and building your own Corsi-Rosenthal box can also reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Long COVID patients may also benefit from emotional and financial support as they manage symptoms, navigate barriers to treatment, and go through the months-long process of applying for and receiving disability benefits.
For more information, talk to your health care provider.
This article first appeared on Public Good News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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
Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:
