How To Ease Neck Pain At Home

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Dr. Bang is offering exercises to alleviate neck pain, which pain can be a real… Well, if only there were a good phrase for expressing how troublesome pain in that part of the body can be.

To be clear, he’s a doctor of chiropractic, not a medical doctor, but his advice has clearly been helping people alleviate pain, so without further ado, he advises the following things:

  • Taking the head and neck slowly and carefully through the full range of motion available
  • Contracting the neck muscles while repeating the above exercise, three times each way
  • Backing off a little if it hurts at any point, but noting where the limits lie
  • Repeating again the range of motion exercise, this time adding gentle resistance
  • Holding each end of this for twenty seconds before releasing and doing the other side, three times each way
  • Finally, stabilizing the head centrally and pushing into one’s hands, as an isometric strengthening exercise

He demonstrates each part clearly in this short (5:58) video:

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Want to know more about chiropractic?

You might like our previous main feature:

Is Chiropractic All It’s Cracked Up To Be?

Take care!

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  • Sweet Dreams Are Made of THC (Or Are They?)

    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.

    It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

    Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!

    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 😎

    ❝I’m one of those older folks that have a hard time getting 7 hrs. I know a lot of it my fault…like a few beers at nite…🥰am now trying THC gummies for anxiety, instead of alcohol……less calories 😁how does THC affect our sleep,? Safer than alcohol…..I know your next article 😊😊😊😊❣️😊alot of us older kids do take gummies 😲😲😲thank you❞

    Great question! We wrote a little about CBD gummies (not THC) before:

    Do CBD Gummies Work?

    …and went on to explore THC’s health benefits and risks here:

    Cannabis Myths vs Reality

    For starters, let’s go ahead and say: you’re right that it’s safer (for most people) than alcohol—but that’s not a strong claim, because alcohol is very bad for pretty much everything, including sleep.

    So how does THC measure up when it comes to sleep quality?

    Good news: it affects the architecture of sleep in such a way that you will spend longer in deep sleep (delta wave activity), which means you get more restorative and restful sleep!

    See also: Alpha, beta, theta: what are brain states and brain waves? And can we control them?

    Bad news: it does so at the cost of reducing your REM sleep, which is also necessary for good brain health, and will cause cognitive impairment if you skip too much. Normally, if you are sleep-deprived, the brain will prioritize REM sleep at the cost of other kinds of sleep; it’s that important. However, if you are chemically impaired from getting healthy REM sleep, there’s not much your brain can do to save you from the effects of REM sleep loss.

    See: Cannabis, Cannabinoids, and Sleep: a Review of the Literature

    This is, by the way, a reason that THC gets prescribed for some sleep disorders, in cases where the initial sleep disruption was because of nightmares, as it will reduce those (along with any other dreams, as collateral damage):

    Clinical Management of Sleep and Sleep Disorders With Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Implications to Practicing Psychiatrists

    One thing to be careful of if using THC as a sleep aid is that withdrawal may make your symptoms worse than they were to start with:

    Updates in the use of cannabis for insomnia

    With all that in mind, you might consider (if you haven’t already tried it) seeing whether CBD alone improves your sleep, as while it does also extend time in deep sleep, it doesn’t reduce REM nearly as much as THC does:

    The effects of a brand-specific, hemp-derived cannabidiol product on physiological, biochemical, and psychometric outcomes in healthy adults: a double-blind, randomized clinical trial

    👆 this study was paid for by the brand being tested, so do be aware of potential publication bias. That’s not to say the study is necessarily corrupt, and indeed it probably wasn’t, but rather, the publication of the results was dependent on the company paying for them (so hypothetically they could have pulled funding from any number of other research groups that didn’t get the results they wanted, leaving this one to be the only one published). That being said, the study is interesting, which is why we’ve linked it, and it’s a good jumping-off-point for finding a lot of related papers, which you can see listed beneath it.

    CBD also has other benefits of its own, even without THC:

    CBD Oil: What Does The Science Say?

    Take care!

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  • Collard Greens vs Watercress – 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 collard greens to watercress, we picked the collard greens.

    Why?

    It was close! But…

    In terms of macros, collard greens have 8x the fiber, 4x the carbs, and slightly more protein. The fiber-to-carbs ratio also gives collard greens the lower glycemic index, although honestly, nobody is getting metabolic disease from eating watercress. Still, by the numbers it’s a clear win for collard greens, and especially 8x the fiber is not to be undervalued!

    When it comes to vitamins, things were much more even; collard greens have more of vitamins A, B3, B9, K, and choline, while watercress has more of vitamins B1, B2, B5, C, and E. They’re tied on vitamin B6, so that makes a 5.5:5.5 tie overall. Looking for a tiebreaker, collard greens’ margins of difference are greater, so we could call this a tie or the narrowest of wins for collard greens ion this category.

    In the category of minerals, collard greens have more calcium, copper, iron, manganese, and zinc, while watercress has more copper, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium. They’re tied on magnesium. This time the margins of difference are also comparable, so there’s really no tiebreaker available for this one. Thus, an absolute tie on minerals.

    Looking at polyphenols, watercress has slightly more, with the main contender being 4mg/100g quercetin.

    Adding up the sections results in either a tie or a slight for collard greens based on the tiebreaker in the vitamins category.

    We can also put the two clear wins (one for collard greens and one for watercress), and say that in our opinion, collard greens’ 4g/100g fiber beats watercress’s 4mg/100g quercetin.

    Quercetin is great and all, but:

    1. if you buy a quercetin supplement like this one on Amazon it’s 1000mg capsules, so how critical is watercress’s 4mg, really? Yes, getting it from food is better, but it’s not 25,000% better.
    2. no doctor that we know of is saying “you need more quercetin or you’re going to die”, but they do say “you need more fiber or you’re going to die”
    3. indeed, the WHO passionately proclaims that 95% of people in the US especially desperately need to eat more fiber, whereas there is no similar giant public health campaign begging people to have 4mg more of quercetin

    …so we’ll say that’s another tiebreaker in favor of collard greens.

    In short: collard greens scrape a win based on several tiebreakers, but watercress was a very close contender indeed!

    Of course, by all means enjoy either or (ideally!) both; diversity is good.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like:

    What’s Your Plant Diversity Score?

    Enjoy!

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  • Apricots vs Peaches – 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 apricots to peaches, we picked the apricots.

    Why?

    Both are great! But there’s a clear winner:

    In terms of macros, apricots have more fiber and, which is less important because the numbers are small, more protein. Apricots do also have more carbs, and/but carbs from whole fruit are not a problem for most people (especially because of the fiber), unless undertaking a very carb-controlled diet.

    When it comes to vitamins, apricots sweep with more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B5, B6, B9, C, E, & K. Peaches meanwhile boast more vitamin B3, and that only marginally, as well as more choline.

    In the category of minerals, apricots sweep again with more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. Peaches are not higher in any minerals.

    Finally, if we consider polyphenols, apricots sweep yet again. The flavonols that peaches have, apricots have more of, and apricots have a long list of flavonols that peaches don’t.

    Outside of flavonols, there is one (1) phenolic acid that peaches have more of (it’s 3-Caffeoylquinic acid), and it’s only slightly more, and it’s mostly in the skin which isn’t included if you buy your fruit ready-chopped. So in those cases, apricots would have the higher 3-Caffeoylquinic acid content anyway.

    All in all, with their higher content of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols, apricots easily win the day.

    Enjoy both, though! Diversity is healthy!

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Take care!

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  • 16/8 Intermittent Fasting For Beginners

    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.

    Health Insider explains in super-simple fashion why and how to do Intermittent Fasting (IF), which is something that can sound complicated at first, but becomes very simple and easy once understood.

    What do we need to know?

    Intermittent fasting (IF) is a good, well-evidenced way to ease your body’s metabolic load, and
    give your organs a chance to recover from the strain of digestion and its effects. That’s not just your gastrointestinal organs! It’s your pancreas and liver too, amongst others—this is about glucose metabolism as much as it is about digestion.

    This, in turn, allows your body some downtime to do its favorite thing, which is: maintenance!

    This maintenance takes the form of enhanced cellular apoptosis and autophagy, helping to keep cells young and cancer-free.

    In other words, with well-practised intermittent fasting, we can reduce our risk of metabolic disease (including heart disease and diabetes) as well as cancer and neurodegeneration.

    You may be wondering: this sounds miraculous; what’s the catch? There are a couple:

    • While fasting from food, the body’s enhanced metabolism requires more water, so you’ll need to take extra care keep on top of your hydration (this is one reason why Ramadan fasting, while healthy for most people, is not as healthy as IF—because Ramadan fasting means abstaining from water, too).
    • If you are diabetic, and especially if you have Type 1 Diabetes, fasting may not be a safe option for you, since if you get a hypo in the middle of your fasting period, it’s obviously not a good idea to wait another many hours before fixing it.

    Extra note on that last one: it’s easy to think “can’t I just lower my bolus insulin instead of eating?” and while superficially yes that will raise your blood sugar levels, it’s because the sugar will be sticking around in your blood, and not actually getting released into the organs that need it. So while your blood glucose monitor may say you’re fine, you will be starving your organs and if you keep it up they may suffer serious damage.

    Disclaimer: our standard legal/medical disclaimer applies, and this is intended for educational purposes only; please do speak with your endocrinologist before changing anything you usually do with regard to your blood sugar maintenance.

    Ok, back onto the cheerier topic at hand:

    Aside from the above: for most people, IF is a remarkably healthful practice in very many ways.

    For more on the science, practicalities, and things to do/avoid, enjoy this short (4:53) video:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically

    Want to know more?

    Check out our previous main feature on this topic:

    Intermittent Fasting: Mythbusting Edition

    Enjoy!

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  • What is ‘breathwork’? And do I need to do it?

    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.

    From “breathwork recipes” to breathing techniques, many social media and health websites are recommending breathwork to reduce stress.

    But breathwork is not new. Rather it is the latest in a long history of breathing techniques such as Pranayama from India and qigong from China. Such practices have been used for thousands of years to promote a healthy mind and body.

    The benefits can be immediate and obvious. Try taking a deep breath in through your nose and exhaling slowly. Do you feel a little calmer?

    So, what’s the difference between the breathing we do to keep us alive and breathwork?

    Taras Grebinets/Shutterstock

    Breathwork is about control

    Breathwork is not the same as other mindfulness practices. While the latter focus on observing the breath, breathwork is about controlling inhalation and exhalation.

    Normally, breathing happens automatically via messages from the brain, outside our conscious control. But we can control our breath, by directing the movement of our diaphragm and mouth.

    The diaphragm is a large muscle that separates our thoracic (chest) and abdominal (belly) cavities. When the diaphragm contracts, it expands the thoracic cavity and pulls air into the lungs.

    Controlling how deep, how often, how fast and through what (nose or mouth) we inhale is the crux of breathwork, from fire breathing to the humming bee breath.

    Breathwork can calm or excite

    Even small bits of breathwork can have physical and mental health benefits and complete the stress cycle to avoid burnout.

    Calming breathwork includes diaphragmatic (belly) breathing, slow breathing, pausing between breaths, and specifically slowing down the exhale.

    In diaphragmatic breathing, you consciously contract your diaphragm down into your abdomen to inhale. This pushes your belly outwards and makes your breathing deeper and slower.

    You can also slow the breath by doing:

    • box breathing (count to four for each of four steps: breathe in, hold, breathe out, hold), or
    • coherent breathing (controlled slow breathing of five or six breaths per minute), or
    • alternate nostril breathing (close the left nostril and breathe in slowly through the right nostril, then close the right nostril and breathe out slowly through the left nostril, then repeat the opposite way).

    You can slow down the exhalation specifically by counting, humming or pursing your lips as you breathe out.

    In contrast to these calming breathing practices, energising fast-paced breathwork increases arousal. For example, fire breathing (breathe in and out quickly, but not deeply, through your nose in a consistent rhythm) and Lion’s breath (breathe out through your mouth, stick your tongue out and make a strong “haa” sound).

    What is happening in the body?

    Deep and slow breathing, especially with a long exhale, is the best way to stimulate the vagus nerves. The vagus nerves pass through the diaphragm and are the main nerves of the parasympathetic nervous system.

    Simulating the vagus nerves calms our sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) stress response. This improves mood, lowers the stress hormone cortisol and helps to regulate emotions and responses. It also promotes more coordinated brain activity, improves immune function and reduces inflammation.

    Taking deep, diaphragmatic breaths also has physical benefits. This improves blood flow, lung function and exercise performance, increases oxygen in the body, and strengthens the diaphragm.

    Slow breathing reduces heart rate and blood pressure and increases heart rate variability (normal variation in time between heart beats). These are linked to better heart health.

    Taking shallow, quick, rhythmic breaths in and out through your nose stimulates the sympathetic nervous system. Short-term, controlled activation of the stress response is healthy and develops resilience to stress.

    Breathing in through the nose

    We are designed to inhale through our nose, not our mouth. Inside our nose are lots of blood vessels, mucous glands and tiny hairs called cilia. These warm and humidify the air we breathe and filter out germs and toxins.

    We want the air that reaches our airways and lungs to be clean and moist. Cold and dry air is irritating to our nose and throat, and we don’t want germs to get into the body.

    Nasal breathing increases parasympathetic activity and releases nitric oxide, which improves airway dilation and lowers blood pressure.

    Consistently breathing through our mouth is not healthy. It can lead to pollutants and infections reaching the lungs, snoring, sleep apnoea, and dental issues including cavities and jaw joint problems.

    person stands with diagrams of lungs superimposed on chest
    Breathing can be high and shallow when we are stressed. mi_viri/Shutterstock

    A free workout

    Slow breathing – even short sessions at home – can reduce stress, anxiety and depression in the general population and among those with clinical depression or anxiety. Research on breathwork in helping post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is also promising.

    Diaphragmatic breathing to improve lung function and strengthen the diaphragm can improve breathing and exercise intolerance in chronic heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. It can also improve exercise performance and reduce oxidative stress (an imbalance of more free radicals and/or less antioxidants, which can damage cells) after exercise.

    traffic light in street shows red signal
    Waiting at the lights? This could be your signal to do some breathwork. doublelee/Shutterstock

    A mind-body connection you can access any time

    If you feel stressed or anxious, you might subconsciously take shallow, quick breaths, but this can make you feel more anxious. Deep diaphragmatic breaths through your nose and focusing on strong exhalations can help break this cycle and bring calm and mental clarity.

    Just a few minutes a day of breathwork can improve your physical and mental health and wellbeing. Daily deep breathing exercises in the workplace reduce blood pressure and stress, which is important since burnout rates are high.

    Bottom line: any conscious control of your breath throughout the day is positive.

    So, next time you are waiting in a line, at traffic lights or for the kettle to boil, take a moment to focus on your breath. Breathe deeply into your belly through your nose, exhale slowly, and enjoy the benefits.

    Theresa Larkin, Associate professor of Medical Sciences, University of Wollongong and Judy Pickard, Senior Lecturer, Clinical Psychology, University of Wollongong

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

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  • Which Vitamin Brands Are Effective?

    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.

    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

    ❝As far as specific brands of vitamin…some are good some not. I don’t like being told what buy but I guess I want to know which are effective. Could there be some brands recognized as good given to us?❞

    The most reliable brands are generally those with the most transparency:

    • They tell you what is in the supplement; not just the active ingredient(s), with doses, but also any buffers etc.
    • They tell you, in the case of ingredients that can have various different sources, what the source is.
    • They are, ideally, well-certified and independently tested.

    Our previous sponsor Ora is a good example of a company that does this.

    Additionally, in terms of bioavailability, generally speaking the order of preference goes liquid > capsule/softgel > tablet, so that’s something to look out for, too.

    Note: “liquid” includes powders that are ingested when dissolved/suspended in water, and also includes tablets that become a liquid when dissolved/dispersed in water and ingested that way.

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