The Fruit That Can Specifically Reduce Belly Fat

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.

Gambooge: Game-Changer Or Gamble?

The gambooge, also called the gummi-gutta, whence its botanical name Garcinia gummi-gutta (formerly Gardinia cambogia), is also known as the Malabar tamarind, and it even got an English name, the brindle berry.

It’s a fruit that looks like a small pale yellow pumpkin in shape, but it grows on trees and has a taste so sour, that it’s usually used only in cooking, and not eaten raw which makes this writer really want to try it raw now.

Its active phytochemical compound hydroxycitric acid (HCA) rose to popularity as a supplement in the US based on a paid recommendation from Dr. Oz, and then became a controversy as supplements associated with it, were in turn associated with hepatotoxicity (more on this in the “Is it safe?” section below).

What do people use it for?

Simply put: it’s a weight loss supplement.

Less simply put: least interestingly, it’s a mild appetite suppressant:

Safety and mechanism of appetite suppression by a novel hydroxycitric acid extract (HCA-SX) ← this talks more about the biochemistry, but isn’t a human study. Human studies have been small and with mixed results. It seems likely that (as in the rat studies discussed above) the mechanism of action is largely about increasing serotonin, which itself is a well-established appetite suppressant. Therefore, the results will depend somewhat on a person’s brain’s serotonergic system.

We’ll revisit that later, but first let’s look at…

Even less simply put: its other mechanism of action is much more interesting; it actually blocks the production of fat (especially: visceral fat) in the body, by inhibiting citrate lyase, which enzyme plays a significant role in fat production:

Effects of (−)-hydroxycitrate on net fat synthesis as de novo lipogenesis

More illustratively, here’s another study, which found:

❝G cambogia reduced abdominal fat accumulation in subjects, regardless of sex, who had the visceral fat accumulation type of obesity. No rebound effect was observed.

It is therefore expected that G cambogia may be useful for the prevention and reduction of accumulation of visceral fat. ❞

~ Dr. Norihiro Shigematsu et al.

Read in full: Effects of garcinia cambogia (Hydroxycitric Acid) on visceral fat accumulation: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial

As to why this is particularly important, and far more important than mere fat loss in general, see our previous main feature:

Visceral Belly Fat (And How To Lose It)

Is it safe?

It has shown a good safety profile up to large doses (2.8g/day):

Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of hydroxycitric acid or Garcinia cambogia extracts in humans

There have been some fears about hepatotoxicity, but they appear to be unfounded, and based on products that did not, in fact, contain HCA (and were merely sold by a company that used a similar name in their marketing):

No evidence demonstrating hepatotoxicity associated with hydroxycitric acid

However, as it has a serotoninergic effect, it could cause problems for anyone at risk of serotonin syndrome, which means caution is advisable if you are taking SSRIs (which reduce the rate at which the brain can scrub serotonin, with the usually laudable goal of having more serotonin in the brain—but it is possible to have too much of a good thing, and serotonin syndrome isn’t fun).

As ever, do check with your pharmacist and/or doctor, to be sure, since they can advise with regard to your specific situation and any medications you may be taking.

Want to try some?

We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon

Enjoy!

Don’t Forget…

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

Recommended

  • How Beneficial Is MCT Oil, Really?
  • Thinking of trying a new diet? 4 questions to ask yourself before you do
    Debunking diet myths: Four crucial questions to consider for informed, healthy eating choices and mental well-being.

Learn to Age Gracefully

Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • Glycemic Index vs Glycemic Load vs Insulin Index

    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.

    How To Actually Use Those Indices

    Carbohydrates are essential for our life, and/but often bring about our early demise. It would be a very conveniently simple world if it were simply a matter of “enjoy in moderation”, but the truth is, it’s not that simple.

    To take an extreme example, for the sake of clearest illustration: The person who eats an 80% whole fruit diet (and makes up the necessary protein and fats etc in the other 20%) will probably be healthier than the person who eats a “standard American diet”, despite not practising moderation in their fruit-eating activities. The “standard American diet” has many faults, and one of those faults is how it promotes sporadic insulin spikes leading to metabolic disease.

    If your breakfast is a glass of orange juice, this is a supremely “moderate” consumption, but an insulin spike is an insulin spike.

    Quick sidenote: if you’re wondering why eating immoderate amounts of fruit is unlikely to cause such spikes, but a single glass of orange juice is, check out:

    Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same?

    Glycemic Index

    The first tool in our toolbox here is glycemic index, or GI.

    GI measures how much a carb-containing food raises blood glucose levels, also called blood sugar levels, but it’s just glucose that’s actually measured, bearing in mind that more complex carbs will generally get broken down to glucose.

    Pure glucose has a GI of 100, and other foods are ranked from 0 to 100 based on how they compare.

    Sometimes, what we do to foods changes its GI.

    • Some is because it changed form, like the above example of whole fruit (low GI) vs fruit juice (high GI).
    • Some is because of more “industrial” refinement processes, such as whole grain wheat (medium GI) vs white flour and white flour products (high GI)
    • Some is because of other changes, like starches that were allowed to cool before being reheated (or eaten cold).

    Broadly speaking, a daily average GI of 45 is considered great.

    But that’s not the whole story…

    Glycemic Load

    Glycemic Load, or GL, takes the GI and says “ok, but how much of it was there?”, because this is often relevant information.

    Refined sugar may have a high GI, but half a teaspoon of sugar in your coffee isn’t going to move your blood sugar levels as much as a glass of Coke, say—the latter simply has more sugar in, and just the same zero fiber.

    GL is calculated by (grams of carbs / 100) x GI, by the way.

    But it still misses some important things, so now let’s look at…

    Insulin Index

    Insulin Index, which does not get an abbreviation (probably because of the potentially confusing appearance of “II”), measures the rise in insulin levels, regardless of glucose levels.

    This is important, because a lot of insulin response is independent of blood glucose:

    • Some is because of other sugars, some some is in response to fats, and yes, even proteins.
    • Some is a function of metabolic base rate.
    • Some is a stress response.
    • Some remains a mystery!

    Another reason it’s important is that insulin drives weight gain and metabolic disorders far more than glucose.

    Note: the indices of foods are calculated based on average non-diabetic response. If for example you have Type 1 Diabetes, then when you take a certain food, your rise in insulin is going to be whatever insulin you then take, because your body’s insulin response is disrupted by being too busy fighting a civil war in your pancreas.

    If your diabetes is type 2, or you are prediabetic, then a lot of different things could happen depending on the stage and state of your diabetes, but the insulin index is still a very good thing to be aware of, because you want to resensitize your body to insulin, which means (barring any urgent actions for immediate management of hyper- or hypoglycemia, obviously) you want to eat foods with a low insulin index where possible.

    Great! What foods have a low insulin index?

    Many factors affect insulin index, but to speak in general terms:

    • Whole plant foods are usually top-tier options
    • Lean and/or white meats generally have lower insulin index than red and/or fatty ones
    • Unprocessed is generally lower than processed
    • The more solid a food is, generally the lower its insulin index compared to a less solid version of the same food (e.g. baked potatoes vs mashed potatoes; cheese vs milk, etc)

    But do remember the non-food factors too! This means where possible:

    • reducing/managing stress
    • getting frequent exercise
    • getting good sleep
    • practising intermittent fasting

    See for example (we promise you it’s relevant):

    Fix Chronic Fatigue & Regain Your Energy, By Science

    …as are (especially recommendable!) the two links we drop at the bottom of that page; do check them out if you can

    Take care!

    Share This Post

  • The Body Is Not an Apology – by Sonya Renee 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.

    First, a couple of things that this book is not about:

    1. Self-confidence (it’s about more than merely thinking highly of oneself)
    2. Self-acceptance (it’s about more than merely settling for “good enough”)

    In contrast, it’s about loving and celebrating what is, while striving for better, for oneself and for others.

    You may be wondering: whence this “radical” in the title?

    The author argues that often, the problem with our bodies is not actually our bodies. If we have cancer, or diabetes, then sure, that’s a problem with the body. But most of the time, the “problem with our bodies” is simply society’s rejection of our “imperfect” bodies as somehow “less than”, and something we must invest time and money to correct. Hence, the need for a radical uprooting of ideas, to fix the real problem.

    Bottom line: if, like most of us, you have a body that would not entirely pass for that of a Marvel Comics superhero, this is a book for you. And if you do have a MCU body? This is also a book for you, because we have bad news for you about what happens with age.

    Click here to check out The Body Is Not An Apology, and appreciate more about yours!

    Share This Post

  • Vitamin B6 is essential – but too much can be toxic. Here’s what to know to stay safe

    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.

    In recent weeks, reports have been circulating about severe reactions in people who’ve taken over-the-counter vitamin B6 supplements.

    Vitamin B6 poisoning can injure nerves and lead to symptoms including numbness, tingling and even trouble walking and moving.

    In some cases, those affected didn’t know the product contained any vitamin B6.

    So what is vitamin B6, where is it found and how much is too much? Here’s what you need to know about this essential nutrient.

    Kim Kuperkova/Shutterstock

    What is vitamin B6?

    Vitamin B6 (also known as pyridoxine) is a group of six compounds that share a similar chemical structure.

    It is an essential nutrient, meaning we need it for normal body functions, but we can’t produce it ourselves.

    Adults aged 19–50 need 1.3mg of vitamin B6 per day. The recommended dose is lower for teens and children, and higher for those aged 51 and over (1.7mg for men and 1.5mg for women) and people who are breastfeeding or pregnant (1.9mg).

    Most of us get this in our diet – largely from animal products, including meat, dairy and eggs.

    The vitamin is also available in a range of different plant foods, including spinach, kale, bananas and potatoes, so deficiency is rare, even for vegetarians and vegans.

    The vitamin B6 we consume in the diet is inactive, meaning the body can’t use it. To activate B6, the liver transforms it into a compound called pyridoxal-5’-phosphate (PLP).

    In this form, vitamin B6 helps the body with more than 140 cellular functions, including building and breaking down proteins, producing red blood cells, regulating blood sugar and supporting brain function.

    Vitamin B6 is important for overall health and has also been associated with reduced cancer risk and inflammation.

    Despite being readily available in the diet, vitamin B6 is also widely included in various supplements, multivitamins and other products, such as Berocca and energy drinks.

    An array of vitamin-rich B6 foods including salmon, avocado, potatoes, spinach, chickpeas, banana and chicken.
    Most people get enough vitamin B6 from their diet. Tatjana Baibakova/Shutterstock

    Should we be worried about toxicity?

    Vitamin B6 toxicity is extremely rare. It almost never occurs from dietary intake alone, unless there is a genetic disorders or disease that stops nutrient absorption (such as coeliac disease).

    This is because all eight vitamins in the B group are water-soluble. If you consume more of the vitamin than your body needs, it can be excreted readily and harmlessly in your urine.

    However, in some rare cases, excessive vitamin B6 accumulates in the blood, resulting in a condition called peripheral neuropathy. We’re still not sure why this occurs in some people but not others.

    Peripheral neuropathy occurs when the sensory nerves – those outside our brain and spinal cord that send information to the central nervous system – are damaged and unable to function. This can be caused by a wide range of diseases (and is most well known in type 2 diabetes).

    The most common symptoms are numbness and tingling, though in some cases patients may experience difficulty with balance or walking.

    We don’t know exactly how excess vitamin B6 causes peripheral neuropathy, but it is thought to interfere with how the neurotransmitter GABA sends signals to the sensory nerves.

    Vitamin B6 can cause permanent damage to nerves. Studies have shown symptoms improved when the person stopped taking the supplement, although they didn’t completely resolve.

    What is considered excessive? And has this changed?

    Toxicity usually occurs only when people take supplements with high doses of B6.

    Until 2022, only products with more than 50mg of vitamin B6 were required to display a warning about peripheral neuropathy. But the Therapeutic Goods Administration lowered this and now requires any product containing more than 10mg of vitamin B6 to carry a warning.

    The Therapeutic Goods Administration has also halved the daily upper limit of vitamin B6 a product can provide – from 200mg to 100mg.

    These changes followed a review by the administration, after receiving 32 reports of peripheral neuropathy in people taking supplements. Two thirds of these people were taking less than 50mg of vitamin B6.

    The Therapeutic Goods Administration acknowledges the risk varies between individuals and a lot is unknown. Its review could not identify a minimum dose, duration of use or patient risk factors.

    But I thought B vitamins were good for me?

    Too much of anything can cause problems.

    The updated guidelines are likely to significantly lower the risk of toxicity. They also make consumers more aware of which products contain B6, and the risks.

    The Therapeutic Goods Administration will continue to monitor evidence and revise guidelines if necessary.

    While vitamin B6 toxicity remains very rare, there are still many questions about why some people get peripheral neuropathy with lower dose supplements.

    It could be that some specific vitamin B compounds have a stronger effect, or some people may have genetic vulnerabilities or diseases which put them at higher risk.

    So what should I do?

    Most people don’t need to actively seek vitamin B6 in supplements.

    However, many reports to the Therapeutic Goods Administration were of vitamin B6 being added to supplements labelled as magnesium or zinc – and some weren’t aware they were consuming it.

    It is important to always check the label if you are taking a new medicine or supplement, especially if it hasn’t been explicitly prescribed by a health-care professional.

    Be particularly cautious if you are taking multiple supplements. While one multivitamin is unlikely to cause an issue, adding a magnesium supplement for cramping, or a zinc supplement for cold and flu symptoms, may cause an excessive vitamin B6 dose over time, and increase your risk.

    Importantly, pay attention to symptoms that may indicate peripheral neuropathy, such as pins and needles, numbness, or pain in the feet or hands, if you do change or add a supplement.

    Most importantly, if you need advice, you should talk to your doctor, dietitian or pharmacist.

    Vasso Apostolopoulos, Distinguished Professor, Professor of Immunology, RMIT University and Jack Feehan, Vice Chancellors Senior Research Fellow in Immunology, RMIT University

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

    Share This Post

Related Posts

  • How Beneficial Is MCT Oil, Really?
  • The Medicinal Properties Of Bay Leaves

    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 humble bay leaf has more uses than just culinary!

    How about for hair growth?

    Popularly recommended on social media with the promise of long and glowing hair… Guess how many scientific studies back up this claim!

    If you guessed zero, you guessed correctly. At least, we were not able to find any. In fact, the only paper on the entirety of PubMed (a large online database of available scientific literature from most, if not all, reputable scientific journals) to return a hit for the search string “bay leaf hair growth” was this one:

    Suppression of Propionibacterium acnes-Induced Skin Inflammation by Laurus nobilis Extract and Its Major Constituent Eucalyptol

    You may notice that that has nothing to do with hair growth, and rather returned the hit because the acne bacteria are known to “proliferate within sebum-blocked skin hair follicles”.

    So let’s talk about that instead:

    Against acne & skin inflammation

    Well, for that, it works! The research that we mentioned above concluded that:

    ❝LNE significantly suppressed the expression of P. acnes-mediated proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β, IL-6, and NLRP3. We also found that LNE inhibited the inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB in response to P. acnes. In addition, eucalyptol, which is the main constituent of LNE, consistently inhibited P. acnes-induced inflammatory signaling pathways. Moreover, LNE significantly ameliorated P. acnes-induced inflammation in a mouse model of acne. We suggest for the first time that LNE hold therapeutic value for the improvement of P. acnes-induced skin inflammation.❞

    LNE = Laurus nobilis extract, i.e. bay leaf extract

    Now, that’s all about acne-induced skin inflammation, but what about other kinds?

    Against inflammation in general

    Bay leaves have an abundance of antioxidant polyphenols, and what’s good against oxidation is good against inflammation. For example:

    Laurus nobilis leaf extract controls inflammation by suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome activation

    That anti-inflammatory action is more than skin-deep though, because…

    Against IBD / ulcerative colitis

    It’s good for the gut, too, for example in this study (with mice, but the bacteria affected are the same as we have), which found:

    ❝…bay leaves showed the best treatment effects on gut microbiota compositions; promoting the growth of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus in addition to producing high butyric acid levels. Meanwhile, the number of Clostridium and sulfate-reducing bacteria was significantly reduced. Conclusively, consuming bay leaves brought significant colon health benefits other than stimulating appetite for a better taste.❞

    Read in full: Anti‐inflammatory effects of bay laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) towards the gut microbiome in dextran sodium sulfate induced colitis animal models

    Note that all of those gut-related changes are beneficial to us, increasing things that are best increased, and reducing things that are best reduced.

    Against diabetes

    It’s good for the blood—and for the heart, but more on that later. First, about diabetes:

    ❝All three levels of bay leaves reduced serum glucose with significant decreases ranging from 21 to 26% after 30 d.

    Total cholesterol decreased, 20 to 24%, after 30 days with larger decreases in low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol of 32 to 40%. High density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol increased 29 and 20% in the groups receiving 1 and 2 g of bay leaves, respectively. Triglycerides also decreased 34 and 25% in groups consuming 1 and 2 g of bay leaves, respectively, after 30 d. There were no significant changes in the placebo group.

    In summary, this study demonstrates that consumption of bay leaves, 1 to 3 g/d for 30 days, decreases risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases and suggests that bay leaves may be beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes.❞

    Again, all those changes are good:

    Bay Leaves Improve Glucose and Lipid Profile of People with Type 2 Diabetes

    Good for the heart

    This one’s quite straight forward. Bay leaf tea is indeed good for the heart,

    Of course, even that latter is also good for the heart literally, just, indirectly, by reducing anxiety and stress, thus indirectly benefiting the heart itself.

    But even before that, it’s already very directly beneficial to cardiovascular health, per its significant improvements to the lipid profile.

    Anything else?

    So much else, but there’s only so much we can feature in one day, so if you’d like to learn more, we recommend this very comprehensive paper:

    Chromatography analysis, in light of vitro antioxidant, antidiabetic, antiobesity, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, and three-dimensional cancer spheroids’ formation blocking activities of Laurus nobilis aromatic oil from Palestine

    …which discusses many benefits in considerable detail, including…

    ❝The LN leaves have various biological activities, such as antioxidant, wound healing, antibacterial, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory activities. However, oxidative stress, cancer, diabetes, microbial infections, and inflammatory diseases are closely linked. The objective of this research is to characterize Laurus nobilis (LN) aromatic oil (AO) and evaluate its antioxidant, antidiabetic, antiobesity, antimicrobial, and antimutagenic bioactivities.

    The plant AO showed potent antioxidant activity (IC50 = 2.2 ± 1.38) and has moderate anti-amylase (IC50 = 60.25 ± 1.25), anti-glucosidase (IC50 = 131.82 ± 0.1), and antilipase (IC50 = 83.17 ± 0.06) activities.

    Moreover, LNAO showed potent antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Proteus vulgaris (MICs = 1.56 µg/mL), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (MIC = 3.125 µg/mL) and Candida albicans (MIC = 0.195 µg/mL). The cytotoxicity results demonstrated that at a concentration of 1 mg/mL, LNAO has potent breast cancer (MCF-7), and hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep 3B) cancer cells inhibitory activities of 98% and 95%, respectively.

    Importantly, we are the first to show that LNAO significantly hinders hepatocellular carcinoma spheroids’ formation capacity in a 3D model.

    These results show that LNAO is a promising natural source with powerful antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticancer, and antimicrobial activities that could be exploited in the future to treat a variety of diseases.❞

    Want to try some?

    We don’t sell it, but you can buy leaves from your local supermarket and make bay leaf tea, or alternatively, if you prefer essential oil form, here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon 😎

    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:

  • Lose Weight (Healthily!)

    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 Do You Have To Lose?

    For something that’s a very commonly sought-after thing, we’ve not yet done a main feature specifically about how to lose weight, so we’re going to do that today, and make it part of a three-part series about changing one’s weight:

    1. Losing weight (specifically, losing fat)
    2. Gaining weight (specifically, gaining muscle)
    3. Gaining weight (specifically, gaining fat)

    And yes, that last one is something that some people want/need to do (healthily!), and want/need help with that.

    There will be, however, no need for a “losing muscle” article, because (even though sometimes a person might have some reason to want to do this), it’s really just a case of “those things we said for gaining muscle? Don’t do those and the muscle will atrophy naturally”.

    One reason we’ve not covered this before is because the association between weight loss and good health is not nearly so strong as the weight loss industry would have you believe:

    Shedding Some Obesity Myths

    And, while BMI is not a useful measure of health in general, it’s worth noting that over the age of 65, a BMI of 27 (which is in the high end of “overweight”, without being obese) is associated with the lowest all-cause mortality:

    BMI and all-cause mortality in older adults: a meta-analysis

    Important: the above does mean that for very many of our readers, weight loss would not actually be healthy.

    Today’s article is intended as a guide only for those who are sure that weight loss is the correct path forward. If in doubt, please talk to your doctor.

    With that in mind…

    Start in the kitchen

    You will not be able to exercise well if your body is malnourished.

    Counterintuitively, malnourishment and obesity often go hand-in-hand, partly for this reason.

    Important: it’s not the calories in your food; it’s the food in your calories

    See also: Mythbusting Calories

    The kind of diet that most readily produces unhealthy overweight, the diet that nutritional scientists often call the “Standard American Diet”, or “SAD” for short, is high on calories but low on nutrients.

    So you will want to flip this, and focus on enjoying nutrient-dense whole foods.

    The Mediterranean Diet is the current “gold standard” in this regard, so for your interest we offer:

    Four Ways To Upgrade The Mediterranean Diet

    And since you may be wondering:

    Should You Go Light Or Heavy On Carbs?

    The dining room is the next most important place

    Many people do not appreciate food enough for good health. The trick here is, having prepared a nice meal, to actually take the time to enjoy it.

    It can be tempting when hungry (or just plain busy) to want to wolf down dinner in 47 seconds, but that is the metabolic equivalent of “oh no, our campfire needs more fuel, let’s spray it with a gallon of gasoline”.

    To counter this, here’s the very good advice of Dr. Rupy Aujla, “The Kitchen Doctor”:

    Interoception & Mindful Eating

    The bedroom is important too

    You snooze, you lose… Visceral belly fat, anyway! We’ve talked before about how waist circumference is a better indicator of metabolic health than BMI, and in our article about trimming that down, we covered how good sleep is critical for one’s waistline:

    Visceral Belly Fat & How To Lose It

    Exercise, yes! But in one important way.

    There are various types of exercise that are good for various kinds of health, but there’s only one type of exercise that is good for boosting one’s metabolism.

    Whereas most kinds of exercise will raise one’s metabolism while exercising, and then lower it afterwards (to below its previous metabolic base rate!) to compensate, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) will raise your metabolism while training, and for two hours afterwards:

    High-Intensity Interval Training and Isocaloric Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training Result in Similar Improvements in Body Composition and Fitness in Obese Individuals

    …which means that unlike most kinds of exercise, HIIT actually works for fat loss:

    The acute effect of exercise modality and nutrition manipulations on post-exercise resting energy expenditure and respiratory exchange ratio in women: a randomized trial

    So if you’d like to take up HIIT, here’s how:

    How (And Why) To Do HIIT (Without Wrecking Your Body)

    Want more?

    Check out our previous article about specifically how to…

    Burn! How To Boost Your Metabolism

    Take care!

    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:

  • Generation M – by Dr. Jessica Shepherd

    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.

    Menopause is something that very few people are adequately prepared for despite its predictability, and also something that very many people then neglect to take seriously enough.

    Dr. Shepherd encourages a more proactive approach throughout all stages of menopause and beyond; she discusses “the preseason, the main event, and the after-party” (perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause), which is important, because typically people take up an interest in perimenopause, are treating it like a marathon by menopause, and when it comes to postmenopause, it’s easy to think “well, that’s behind me now”, and it’s not, because untreated menopause will continue to have (mostly deleterious) cumulative effects until death.

    As for HRT, there’s a chapter on that of course, going into quite some detail. There is also plenty of attention given to popular concerns such as managing weight changes and libido changes, as well as oft-neglected topics such as brain changes, as well as things considered more cosmetic but that can have a big impact on mental health, such as skin and hair.

    The style throughout is pop-science; friendly without skimping on detail and including plenty of good science.

    Bottom line: if you’d like a fairly comprehensive overview of the changes that occur from perimenopause all the way to menopause and well beyond, then this is a great book for that.

    Click here to check out Generation M, and live well at every stage of life!

    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: