Head Over Hips
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We’ve written before about managing osteoarthritis (or ideally: avoiding it, but that’s not always an option on the table, of course), so here’s a primer/refresher before we get into the meat of today’s article:
Avoiding/Managing Osteoarthritis
When the head gets in the way
Research shows that the problem with recovery in cases of osteoarthritis of the hip is in fact often not the hip itself, but rather, the head:
❝In fact, the stronger your muscles are, the more protected your joint is, and the less pain you will experience.
Our research has shown that people with hip osteoarthritis were unable to activate their muscles as efficiently, irrespective of strength.
Basically, people with hip arthritis are unable to activate their muscles properly because the brain is actively putting on the brake to stop them from using the muscle.❞
This is a case of a short-term protective response being unhelpful in the long-term. If you injure yourself, your brain will try to inhibit you from exacerbating that injury, such as by (for example) disobliging you from putting weight on an injured joint.
This is great if you merely twisted an ankle and just need to sit back and relax while your body works its healing magic, but it’s counterproductive if it’s a chronic issue like osteoarthritis. In such (i.e. chronic) cases, avoidance of use of the joint will simply cause atrophy of the surrounding muscle and other tissues, leading to more of the very wear-and-tear that led to the osteoarthritis in the first place.
So… How to deal with that?
You probably can exercise
It’s easy to get caught between the dichotomy of “exercise and inflame your joints” vs “rest and your joints seize up”, which is not pleasant.
However, the trick lies in how you exercise, per joint type:
When Bad Joints Stop You From Exercising (5 Things To Change)
…which to be clear, isn’t a case of “avoid using the joint that’s bad”, but is rather “use it in this specific way, so that it gets stronger without doing it more damage in the process”.
Which is exactly what is needed!
Further resources
For those who like learning from short videos, here’s a trio of helpers (along with our own text-based overview for each):
- The Most Underrated Hip Mobility Exercise (Not Stretching)
- Overcome Front-Of-Hip Pain
- 10 Tips To Reduce Morning Pain & Stiffness With Arthritis
And for those who prefer just reading, here’s a book we reviewed on the topic:
11 Minutes to Pain-Free Hips – by Melinda Wright
Take care!
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Goodbye Autoimmune Disease – by Dr. Brooke Goldner
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First let’s examine: will it prevent and reverse all the chronic illnesses mentioned on the cover? Probably not. In fact, for several of the things mentioned, it is not currently known what causes them, and others, there are known genetic factors that may not be undone by lifestyle changes.
However! A more modest claim would have been more justified, such as “alleviate the symptoms of”.
On account of this, the book still has merit.
The main thrust of the book is, as you might expect, to reduce inflammation by avoiding inflammatory things and enjoy anti-inflammatory things. It’s not just diet, though, and it also covers a lot of other lifestyle factors, including the obvious topics of exercise, sleep, etc but also various mental health aspects that often go overlooked. The dietary component is important, though, and has a 6-step process that is absolutely integral to her method, so that’s an important thing to focus on.
The book makes heavy use of anecdotal case studies. Case studies are great when one wants to illustrate how something works; they’re not so great as a putative proof that something works, so we’d rather have seen fewer anecdotes and more actual science.
The author is also her own case study, having recovered from systemic lupus nephritis, which means two things:
- She does understand what it is like to have a chronic illness, which sets her apart from a lot of doctors
- She overlooks survivorship bias, and posits that the same approach will work for everyone with all chronic illnesses
The latter may be a little overly optimistic, but on balance, optimism is generally a beneficial thing, so this is better than the alternative of (just as incorrectly) assuming there is no hope.
Bottom line: this may not in fact cure all autoimmune conditions, but at the very least it will alleviate a lot of symptoms, if not reverse disease. So, if you have an autoimmune condition, following this book’s very reasonable advice does seem very sound.
Click here to check out Goodbye Autoimmune Disease, and see what a difference it can make for you!
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Cauliflower 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 cauliflower to kale, we picked the kale.
Why?
Both of these plants are the same species (Brassica oleracea), but one cultivar is definitely more nutritionally dense than the other:
In terms of macros, kale has more fiber, carbs, and protein, winning.
In the category of vitamins, cauliflower has more vitamin B5 (so, the vitamin whose name literally means “found everywhere” and it’s almost impossible to be deficient in it unless literally starving to death), while kale has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B7, B9, C, E, and K, winning by a huge margin.
Looking at minerals, cauliflower has a tiny bit more zinc, while kale has a lot more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium, winning its third round in a row easily.
In other considerations, kale also has more polyphenols, so that’s another point in its favor.
Adding up the sections makes for a very one-sided win for kale, but by all means do enjoy either or both, as cauliflower really is nutritionally great; it just doesn’t look it when standing next to kale!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Superfood Kale & Dill Pâté ← don’t love salads? You don’t have to! Here’s a great (and tasty!) additional way to add more kale to your diet.
Enjoy!
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Sweet Potato & Black Bean Tacos
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Fiber, protein, and polyphenols! What more could one ask for? Well, great taste and warm healthy goodness, which these deliver:
You will need
For the sweet potatoes:
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed (we recommend leaving the skin on, but you can peel them if you really want to)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp MSG or 1 tsp low-sodium salt
For the black beans:
- 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups black beans that you cooked yourself)
- ¼ bulb garlic, minced
- 1 fresh jalapeño finely chopped (or ¼ cup jalapeños from a jar, finely chopped) ← adjust quantities per your preference and per the quality of the pepper(s) you’re using; we can’t judge that from here without tasting them, so we give a good basic starting suggestion.
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- ½ tsp MSG or 1 tsp low-sodium salt
For serving:
- 8 small corn tortillas, or your preference if substituting
- 1 avocado, pitted, peeled, cubed, and tossed in lime juice ← we’re mentioning this here because you want to do this as soon as you cut it, to avoid oxidation
- Any other salad you’d like to include; fresh parsley is also a good option when it comes to greenery, or cilantro if you don’t have the soap gene
- Tomato salsa (quantity and spice level per your preference)
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
1) Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C.
2) Toss the sweet potato cubes in a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients from the sweet potato section above, ensuring they are evenly coated.
3) Bake them in the oven, on a baking tray lined with baking paper, for about 30 minutes or until tender inside and crispy at the edges. Turn them over halfway through.
4) While that’s happening, mix the black beans in a bowl with the other ingredients from the black bean section above, and heat them gently. You could do this in a saucepan, but honestly, while it’s not glamorous, the microwave is actually better for this. Note: many people find the microwave cooks food unevenly, but there are two reasons for this and they’re both easily fixable:
- instead of using high power for x minutes, use medium power for 2x minutes; this will produce better results
- instead of putting the food just in a bowl, jug, or similar, use a wide bowl or similar container, and then inside that, place a small empty microwave-safe glass jar or similar upturned in the middle, and then add the food around it, so that the food is arranged in a donut shape rather than a wide cylinder shape. This means there is no “middle bit” to go underheated while the edges are heated excessively; instead, it will heat through evenly.
If you really don’t want to do that though, use a saucepan on a very low heat, add a small amount of liquid (or tomato salsa), and stir constantly.
5) Heat the tortillas in a dry skillet for about 30 seconds each on each side, when ready to serve.
6) Assemble the tacos; you can do this how you like but a good order of operations is: tortilla, leafy salad (if using), potato, beans, non-leafy salad including avocado, salsa or other topping per your preference.
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:
- White Potato vs Sweet Potato – Which is Healthier?
- Kidney Beans or Black Beans – Which is Healthier?
- Coconut vs Avocado – Which is Healthier?
- Glutathione: More Than An Antioxidant
- Our Top 5 Spices: How Much Is Enough For Benefits? ← we hit 4/5 today!
Take care!
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An Elegant Defense – by Matt Richtel
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 a way, Richtel got the best and worst of the publication date lottery. This book, which he’d obviously been working on for however long, was published in March 2020. Yes, that March 2020. So, it obviously got a huge boost in sales that launced it to bestseller status, and/but it doesn’t actually discuss COVID at all.
What it does discuss, is—as one might expect—the immune system. Or really, the immune systems, plural, several systems working alongside each other. How we got to have such, how our immune functions work, where all the various immune cells come from and what part they play. What pathogens can do to fight and/or confuse (or even co-opt) our immune response, and what modern medicine can do to counteract the pathogens’ anti-countermeasure countermeasures. And how it can still go wrong.
The “Four Lives” promised in the subtitle are stories, and Richtel explains the immune system through specific people’s specific battles. In particular, a friend of his who had quite a remarkable battle against cancer, which was of course terrible for him, but illustrative for us.
The style of the book is very readably journalistic. The author is a Pulitzer-winning NYT journalist, and not normally a science writer. Here at 10almonds, “we like big bibliographies and we cannot lie”, and we didn’t get to enjoy that in this case. The book contained no bibliography (nor appropriate inline citations, nor equivalent footnotes). Maybe a future addition will include this.
Bottom line: there’s a lot of “science for the lay reader” here. While the lack of references is a big oversight, the book does give a very good overview of what both sides (immune response and pathogenic invasion) bring to the battle of your body.
Click here to check out Elegant Defense, and demystify immunology!
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The Two Sides Of “Runner’s High”
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“Runner’s high” is the experience of euphoria that can come about from sustained exercise such as running. Popular wisdom holds that this is a matter of endorphins, which are indeed typically released when we exercise.
However, while that can certainly explain increased pain tolerance (due to endorphins’ activity on opioid receptors), blocking opioid receptors has revealed that this isn’t the primary mechanism of action for creating euphoria, which is unaffected by that.
So where is the euphoria coming from?
One high, multiple pathways
Firstly, regular 10almonds readers might remember How Nature Provides Us With A Surprisingly Powerful Painkiller.
That’s about how being out in nature (or even just viewing nature scenes) changes how we process pain, on a neural level. Not anything to do with expectations or emotions, but rather, physically, what the neurons of the brain do with the signals that are sent there.
The way endorphins work is a little different, and has more to do with blocking the transmission of pain signals. But, as we mentioned up top, blocking the opioid receptors doesn’t change the mood benefits of running.
Here’s the science for that, by the way: Exercise-induced euphoria and anxiolysis do not depend on endogenous opioids in humans
Readers who clicked through to read that (good for you, don’t just take our word for things!) will have noticed that an alternative is proposed as the primary mechanism of action, namely endocannabinoids.
Produced right there within each synaptic cleft (that is, the truly tiny gap between two connecting neurons), by specialist enzymes, endocannabinoids not only have analgesic properties, but also reduce anxiety—thus, directly improving mood.
Some of the same scientists from that other study, now with a lot more added to the team, went ahead and examined the effects of endocannabinoids, and in particular, anandamide (AEA), which binds to the same receptors as THC.
Firstly, you might be wondering why anandamide gets abbreviated to “AEA” when there’s only one “e” in the word and it’s at the end. That’s a good question, and the paper we’re citing doesn’t explain it at all, but so as to not keep it a mystery: it’s because anandamide is also called N–arachidonoylethanolamine. Still, anandamide does also get called “ANA”, but not in this paper, so we’ll stick to the “AEA” as used.
Now, with that out of the way…
Some highlights from their results:
- AEA rises throughout long-distance running : inexperienced long-distance runners, blood levels of AEA increased progressively at 14 km, 28 km, and around 43 km. Levels remained elevated even after 45 minutes of recovery.
- Running had a stronger effect than walking: when the same runners later walked the same route for the amount of time they had needed to complete the marathon, the increase in AEA was considerably smaller.
- Extreme distances produced a similar response: among ultramarathon runners completing 100 km, 160 km, or 230 km, AEA levels were significantly elevated after the race. Another endocannabinoid, 2-AG, also increased.
You can read this paper in full, here: Endocannabinoid dynamics across marathon and ultramarathon running: evidence from two field studies
But we know that not everyone will want to rush out to run a marathon, so…
Want to learn more about boosting your mood with exercise?
We recommend: Behavioral Activation Against Depression & Anxiety ← a tool for improving mood by changing behavior, creating a positive feedback loop to combat depression and anxiety—and exercise is one very good way to get started (albeit certainly not the only way!—see article for details)
On which note, yes, Running or yoga can help beat depression, research shows – even if exercise is the last thing you feel like
Lastly, there is, incidentally, One More Way Exercise Improves Mental Health ← and that’s often an overlooked one.
Enjoy!
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Apple vs Strawberries – 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 apples to strawberries, we picked the strawberries.
Why?
In terms of macros, apples have nearly 2x the carbs and slightly more fiber, while strawberries have just as slightly more protein. Since the numbers are all very close except for the carbs whose “goodness” depends on whether you are preferring to increase or decrease that, we’ll call this round a tie.
In the category of vitamins, things are a little clearer: apples have more of vitamins A and B2, while strawberries have more of vitamins B1, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, C, and E, winning easily.
Looking at minerals, this trend continues as apples are not higher in any minerals, while strawberries are higher in calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, winning completely here.
In other considerations, apples are good for polyphenols but strawberries have more, making this another round for strawberries.
Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for strawberries, but by all means do enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
21 Most Beneficial Polyphenols & What Foods Have Them
Enjoy!
Don’t Forget…
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