How To Heal And Regrow Receding Gums

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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

❝Hey Sheila – As always, your articles are superb !! So, I have a topic that I’d love you guys to discuss: green tea. I used to try + drink it years ago but I always got an allergic reaction to it. So the question I’d like answered is: Will I still get the same allergic reaction if I take the capsules ? Also, because it’s caffeinated, will taking it interfere with iron pills, other vitamins + meds ? I read that the health benefits of the decaffeinated tea/capsules are not as great as the caffeinated. Any info would be greatly appreciated !! Thanks much !!❞

Hi! I’m not Sheila, but I’ll answer this one in the first person as I’ve had a similar issue:

I found long ago that taking any kind of tea (not herbal infusions, but true teas, e.g. green tea, black tea, red tea, etc) on an empty stomach made me want to throw up. The feeling would subside within about half an hour, but I learned it was far better to circumvent it by just not taking tea on an empty stomach.

However! I take an l-theanine supplement when I wake up, to complement my morning coffee, and have never had a problem with that. Of course, my physiology is not your physiology, and this “shouldn’t” be happening to either of us in the first place, so it’s not something there’s a lot of scientific literature about, and we just have to figure out what works for us.

This last Monday I wrote (inspired in part by your query) about l-theanine supplementation, and how it doesn’t require caffeine to unlock its benefits after all, by the way. So that’s that part in order.

I can’t speak for interactions with your other supplements or medications without knowing what they are, but I’m not aware of any known issue, beyond that l-theanine will tend to give a gentler curve to the expression of some neurotransmitters. So, if for example you’re talking anything that affects that (e.g. antidepressants, antipsychotics, ADHD meds, sleepy/wakefulness meds, etc) then checking with your doctor is best.

❝Can you do something on collagen and keep use posted on pineapple, and yes love and look forward to each issue❞

Glad you’re enjoying! We did write a main feature on collagen a little while back! Here it is:

We Are Such Stuff As Fish Are Made Of

As for pineapple, there’s not a lot to keep you posted about! Pineapple’s protein-digesting, DNA-unzipping action is well-established and considered harmless (if your mouth feels weird when you eat pineapple or drink pineapple juice, this is why, by the way) because no meaningful damage was done.

For example:

  • Pineapple’s bromelain action is akin to taking apart a little lego model brick by brick (easy to fix)
  • Clastogenic genotoxicity is more like taking a blowtorch to the lego model (less easy to fix)

Fun fact: pineapple is good against inflammation, because of the very same enzyme!

❝I never knew anything about the l- tea. Where can I purchase it?❞

You can get it online quite easily! Here’s an example on Amazon

❝The 3 most important exercises don’t work if you can’t get on the floor. I’m 78, and have knee replacements. What about 3 best chair yoga stretches? Love your articles!❞

Here are six!

We turn the tables and ask you a question!

We’ll then talk about this tomorrow:

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    Dr. Collen’s “10% Human” delves into the intricate relationship between our microbial companions and health, revealing how gut flora impacts disease, mental health, and well-being.

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  • The Joy of Saying No – by Natalie Lue

    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.

    Superficially, this seems an odd topic for an entire book. “Just say no”, after all, surely! But it’s not so simple as that, is it?

    Lue looks into what underpins people-pleasing, first. Then, she breaks it down into five distinct styles of people-pleasing that each come from slightly different motivations and ways of perceiving how we interact with those around us.

    Lest this seem overly complicated, those five styles are what she calls: gooding, efforting, avoiding, saving, suffering.

    She then looks out how to have a healthier relationship with our yes/no decisions; first by observing, then by creating healthy boundaries. “Healthy” is key here; this isn’t about being a jerk to everyone! Quite the contrary, it involves being honest about what we can and cannot reasonably take on.

    The last section is about improving and troubleshooting this process, and constitutes a lot of the greatest value of the book, since this is where people tend to err the most.

    Bottom line: this book is informative, clear, and helpful. And far from disappointing everyone with “no”, we can learn to really de-stress our relationships with others—and ourselves.

    Click here to check out The Joy of Saying No, and have more energy for the right “yes” items in your life!

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  • Get Ahead (Healthwise) This Winter

    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.

    Tomorrow will be December the first.

    A month later, it’ll be January the first, and very many people will be quite briefly making a concerted effort to get healthier.

    So, let’s get a head start, so that we can hit January already in great health!

    December’s traps to plan around

    In North America at least, common calendar-specific health problems associated with December are:

    • Infectious diseases (seasonal flu and similar unpleasantries)
    • Inactivity (seasonal weather)
    • Slower metabolism (seasonal eating and drinking, plus seasonal weather)
    • Alcohol (seasonal drinking)
    • Stress (seasonal burdens)

    So, let’s plan around those!

    But first, sleep

    Nothing will go well if we are not well-rested. There are six dimensions of sleep, but the ones that matter the most are regularity and duration, so plan for those and the rest should fall into place:

    Calculate (And Enjoy) The Perfect Night’s Sleep

    Skip those viruses

    If you’re doing the rest of what we advise, your immune system will probably be in good shape, unless you have some chronic disease that means you are immunocompromised, in which case the next things will be extra important:

    • Avoid enclosed spaces with lots of people where possible
    • Ventilation is your friend (as is air filtration)
    • Masks don’t protect against everything, but they do protect against a lot
    • Wash your hands more often than you think is necessary (invest in luxurious soap, to make it a more pleasant experience, then you’re more likely to do it often!)
    • Breathe through your nose, not your mouth (nostril hairs attract floating particles by static charge, and then dispose of intruders via mucus)

    See also: The Pathogens That Came In From The Cold

    Plan your movement

    But, realistically. Let’s face it, unless you already have such a habit, you’re not going to be hitting the gym at 6am every day, or be out pounding pavement.

    The weather often makes us more reluctant to exercise, so if that sound like you, plan something low-key but sustainable that will set you in good stead ready for the new year. Here are two approaches; you can do both if you like, but picking at least one is a good idea:

    1. Commit to just a few minutes of high-intensity exercise each day. If you don’t have equipment, then bodyweight squats are a great option.
    2. Commit to gentle exercises each day—pick some stretches and mobility drills you like, and focus on getting supple for the new year.

    See also: How To Keep On Keeping On, When Motivation Isn’t High ← this isn’t a motivational pep talk; it’s tricks and hacks to make life easier while still getting good results!

    Fuel in the tank

    It’s fine if you eat more in winter. We even evolved to put on a few pounds around this time of year. However, to avoid sabotaging your health, it’s good to do things mindfully. Pick one main dietary consideration to focus on, for example “anti-inflammatory” or “antidiabetic” or “nutrient-dense”.

    Those focused ways of eating will, by the way, have a huge amount of overlap. But by picking one specific factor to focus on, it simplifies food choices at a time of year when supermarkets are deliberately overwhelming us with choices.

    If you’re having a hard time picking just one thing to focus on, then we recommend:

    What Matters Most For Your Heart?

    About that festive spirit…

    Alcohol consumption goes up around this time of year, partly for social reasons, partly for “it’s cold and the marketing says alcohol warms us up” reasons, and partly for stress-related reasons. We’re sure you know it sabotages your health, so choose your path:

    How To Reduce Or Quit Alcohol, or

    How To Reduce The Harm Of Festive Drinking (Without Abstaining)

    Relax and unwind, often

    There’s a lot going on in December: consumerism is running high, everyone wants to sell you something, finances can be stressful, social/familial obligations can be challenging sometimes too, and Seasonal Affective Disorder is at its worst.

    Make sure to regularly take some time out to take care of yourself, and make sure you’re doing the things you want to do or really have to do, not just things you feel you’re expected to do.

    Different people can have very different challenges at this time of year, so it’s hard to give a “one size fits all” solution here (and we don’t have the room to cover every possible thing today). You know your life best, so think what you’re most likely to want/need for you this month, and make sure you get it.

    At the very least, most of us will benefit from taking a few minutes to consciously relax, and often, so something that is almost always a good idea for that is:

    No-Frills, Evidence Based Mindfulness

    …but if you’re feeling in a more playful mood, consider:

    Meditation Games You’ll Actually Enjoy!

    Take care!

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  • How to Permanently Loosen a Tight Psoas

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    What Is Your Psoas?

    Your psoas is a deep muscle in your lower back and hip area that connects your spine to your thigh bone. It helps you bend your hips and spine, making it a hip flexor.

    In today’s video, Your Wellness Nerd (the YouTube channel behind the video below) has revealed some great tips on loosening said tight hip flexors!

    How to loosen them

    First off, the big reveal…your tight psoas is likely stemming from an overlooked cause: your lower back! The video kicks off with a simple technique to loosen up that stiff area in your lower back. All you need is a foam roller.

    But, before diving into the exercises, it’s essential to gauge your current flexibility. A basic hip flexor stretch serves as a pre-test.

    Note: the goal here isn’t to stretch, but rather to feel how tight you are.

    After testing, it’s time to roll…literally. Working through the lower back, use your roller or tennis ball to any find stiff spots and loosen them out; those spots are likely increasing the tension on your psoas.

    After some rolling, retest with the hip flexor stretch. Chances are, you’ll feel more mobility and less tightness right away.

    Note: this video focuses on chronic psoas issues. If you have sore psoas from a muscular workout, you may want to read our piece on speeding up muscle recovery.

    Is That All?

    But wait, there’s more! The video also covers two more exercises specifically targeting the psoas. This one’s hard to describe, so we recommend watching the video. However, to provide an overview, you’re doing the “classic couch stretch”, but with a few alterations.

    Next, the tennis ball technique zeroes in on specific tight spots in the psoas. By lying on the ball and adjusting its position around the hip area, you can likely release some deeply held tension.

    Additionally, some of our readers advocate for acupuncture for psoas relief – we’ve done an acupuncture myth-busting article here for reference.

    Other Sources

    If you’re looking for some more in-depth guides on stretching your psoas, and your body in general, we’ve made a range of 1-minute summaries of books that specifically target stretching:

    The final takeaway? If you’re constantly battling tight psoas muscles despite trying different exercises and stretches, it might be time to look at your lower back and your daily habits. This video isn’t just a band-aid fix; it’s about addressing the root cause for long-term relief:

    How did you find that video? If you’ve discovered any great videos yourself that you’d like to share with fellow 10almonds readers, then please do email them to us!

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  • Reading As A Cognitive Exercise

    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.

    Reading, Better

    It is relatively uncontroversial to say that reading is good for cognitive health, but we don’t like to make claims without science if we can help it, so let’s get started:

    There was a 2021 study, which found that even when controlling for many other factors, including highest level of education, socioeconomic status, and generalized pre-morbid intelligence:

    ❝high reading activity, as defined by almost daily reading, was associated with lower odds of cognitive decline, compared to low reading activity❞

    ~ Dr. Carol Chan

    Source: Can reading increase cognitive reserve?

    However, not all reading is the same. And this isn’t just about complexity or size of vocabulary, either. It’s about engagement.

    And that level of engagement remains the key factor, no matter how quickly or slowly someone reads, as the brain tends to automatically adjust reading speed per complexity, because the brain’s “processing speed” remains the same:

    Read more: Cognitive coupling during reading

    Everyone’s “processing speed” is different (and is associated with generalized intelligence and executive functions), though as a general rule of thumb, the more we practice it, the faster our processing speed gets. So if you balked at the notion of “generalized intelligence” being a factor, be reassured that this association goes both ways.

    Read more: The unique contribution of working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and intelligence to reading comprehension and reading speed

    So is the key to just read more?

    That’s a great first step! But…

    The key factor still remains: engagement.

    So what does that mean?

    It is not just the text that engages you. You must also engage the text!

    This is akin to the difference between learning to drive by watching someone else do it, and learning by getting behind the wheel and having a go.

    When it comes to reading, it should not be a purely passive thing. Sure, if you are reading a fiction book at bedtime, get lost in it, by all means. But when it comes to non-fiction reading, engage with it actively!

    For example, I (your writer here, hi), when reading non-fiction:

    • Read at what is generally considered an unusually fast pace, but
    • Write so many notes in the margins of physical books, and
    • Write so many notes using the “Notes” function on my Kindle

    And this isn’t just like a studious student taking notes. Half the time I am…

    • objecting to content (disagreeing with the author), or
    • at least questioning it, or which is especially important, or
    • noting down questions that came to my mind as a result of what I am reading.

    This latter is a bit like:

    • when you are reading 10almonds, sometimes you will follow our links and go off down a research rabbit-hole of your own, and that’s great!
    • sometimes you will disagree with something and write to tell us, and that’s great too (when this happens, one or the other or all of us will learn something, and yes, we have published corrections before now)!
    • sometimes what you read here will prompt a further question, and you’ll send that to us, and guess what, also great! We love questions.

    Now, if your enjoyment of 10almonds is entirely passive, don’t let us stop you (we know our readers like quick-and-easy knowledge, and that’s good too), it’s just, the more you actively engage with it, the more you’ll get out of it.

    This, by the way, was also a lifelong habit of Leonardo da Vinci, which you can read about here:

    How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day – by Michael J. Gelb

    a very good book that we reviewed last year

    How you read (i.e. what medium) matters too!

    Are you reading this on a desktop/laptop, or a mobile device? That difference could matter more than the difference between paper and digital, according to this study from 2020 that found…

    ❝The cumulation of evidence from this and previous studies suggests that reading on a tablet affords different interactions between the reader and the text than reading on a computer screen.

    Reading on a tablet might be more similar to reading on paper, and this may impact the attentional processes during reading❞

    ~ Dr. Ugo Ballenghein et al.

    Read more: Cognitive engagement during reading on digital tablet: Evidence from concurrent recordings of postural and eye movements

    What if my mind wanders easily?

    You can either go with it, or train to improve focus.

    Going with it: just make sure you have more engaging reading to get distracted by. It’s all good.

    Training focus: this is trickier, but worthwhile, as executive function (you will remember from earlier) was an important factor too, and training focus is training executive function.

    As for one way to do that…

    Mindfulness training improves working memory capacity and GRE performance while reducing mind wandering

    If you’d like a primer for getting going with that, then you may enjoy our previous main feature:

    No-Frills, Evidence-Based Mindfulness

    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

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  • This Naked Mind – by Annie Grace

    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’ve all read about the many, many, dangers of drinking. We’ve also probably all read about how to make the change to not drinking. Put things out of sight, tell your friends, have this rule, have this excuse (for not drinking) ready to give to people who challenge you, consider a support group, and so on.

    What Annie Grace offers in this #1 bestseller is different:

    A blend of mostly psychology and sociology, to examine the “liminal thinking” stages that funnel us to drink in the first place… and where that leads, and how to clamber back out of the pitcher plant we weren’t necessarily aware we were sliding into.

    While she kicks off citing Jung, from a psychological perspective more of this book is CBTish, as it pertains a lot to examining the process of:

    • belief—held and defended, based on the…
    • conclusion—drawn, often irrationally, from the…
    • experience—that we had upon acting on an…
    • observation—often mistaking an illusion for the underlying…
    • reality

    …and how we can and often do go wrong at each step, and how little of the previous steps we can perceive at any given time.

    What does this mean for managing/treating alcoholism or a tendency towards alchoholism?

    It means interrupting those processes in a careful, surgically precise fashion, so that suddenly… The thing has no more power over us.

    Whether you or a loved one struggle with a tendency to addiction (any addiction, actually, the advice goes the same), or are just curious about the wider factors at hand in the epidemiology of addiction, this book is for you.

    Get a copy of “This Naked Mind” from Amazon today!

    Don’t Forget…

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

    Learn to Age Gracefully

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  • Your Brain on Art – by Susan Magsamen & Ivy Ross

    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 notion of art therapy is popularly considered a little wishy-washy. As it turns out, however, there are thousands of studies showing its effectiveness.

    Nor is this just a matter of self-expression. As authors Magsamen and Ross explore, different kinds of engagement with art can convey different benefits.

    That’s one of the greatest strengths of this book: “this form of engagement with art will give these benefits, according to these studies”

    With benefits ranging from reducing stress and anxiety, to overcoming psychological trauma or physical pain, there’s a lot to be said for art!

    And because the book covers many kinds of art, if you can’t imagine yourself taking paintbrush to canvas, that’s fine too. We learn of the very specific cognitive benefits of coloring in mandalas (yes, really), of sculpting something terrible in clay, or even just of repainting the kitchen, and more. Each thing has its set of benefits.

    The book’s main goal is to encourage the reader to cultivate what the authors call an aesthetic mindset, which involves four key attributes:

    • a high level of curiosity
    • a love of playful, open-ended exploration
    • a keen sensory awareness
    • a drive to engage in creative activities

    And, that latter? It’s as a maker and/or a beholder. We learn about what we can gain just by engaging with art that someone else made, too.

    Bottom line: come for the evidence-based cognitive benefits; stay for the childlike wonder of the universe. If you already love art, or have thought it’s just “not for you”, then this book is for you.

    Click here to check out Your Brain On Art, and open up whole new worlds of experience!

    Don’t Forget…

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

    Learn to Age Gracefully

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