Huperzine A: A Natural Nootropic

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Huperzine A: A Natural Nootropic

Huperzine A is a compound, specifically a naturally occurring sesquiterpene alkaloid, that functions as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. If that seems like a bunch of big words, don’t worry, we’ll translate in a moment.

First, a nod to its origins: it is found in certain kinds of firmoss, especially the “toothed clubmoss”, Huperzia serrata, which grows in many Asian countries.

What’s an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor?

Let’s do this step-by-step:

  • An acetylcholinesterase inhibitor is a compound that inhibits acetylcholinesterase.
  • Acetylcholinesterase is an enzyme that catalyzes (speeds up) the breakdown of acetylcholine.
  • Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter; it’s an ester of acetic acid and choline.
    • This is the main neurotransmitter of the parasympathetic nervous system, and is also heavily involved in cognitive functions including memory and creative thinking.

What this means: if you take an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor like huperzine A, it will inhibit acetylcholinesterase, meaning you will have more acetylcholine to work with. That’s good.

What can I expect from it?

Huperzine A has been well-studied for a while, mostly for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease:

However, research has suggested that huperzine A is much better as a prevention than a treatment:

❝A central event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the accumulation of senile plaques composed of aggregated amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides.

Ex vivo electrophysiological experiments showed that 10 μM of Aβ1-40 significantly decreased the effect of the AChE inhibitor huperzine A on the synaptic potential parameters. ❞

~ Dr. Irina Zueva

Source: Can Activation of Acetylcholinesterase by β-Amyloid Peptide Decrease the Effectiveness of Cholinesterase Inhibitors?

In other words: the answer to the titular question is “Yes, yes it can”

And, to translate Dr. Zueva’s words into simple English:

  • People with Alzheimer’s have amyloid-β plaque in their brains
  • That plaque reduces the effectiveness of huperzine A

So, what if we take it in advance? That works much better:

❝Pre-treatment with [huperzine A] at concentrations of 50, 100, and 150 µg/mL completely inhibited the secretion of PGE2, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β compared to post-treatment with [huperzine A].

This suggests that prophylactic treatment is better than post-inflammation treatment. ❞

~ Dr. Thu Kim Dang

Source: Anti-neuroinflammatory effects of alkaloid-enriched extract from Huperzia serrata

As you may know, neuroinflammation is a big part of Alzheimer’s pathology, so we want to keep that down. The above research suggests we should do that sooner rather than later.

Aside from holding off dementia, can it improve memory now, too?

There’s been a lot less research done into this (medicine is generally more concerned with preventing/treating disease, than improving the health of healthy people), but there is some:

Huperzine-A capsules enhance memory and learning performance in 34 pairs of matched adolescent students

^This is a small (n=68) old (1999) study for which the full paper has mysteriously disappeared and we only get to see the abstract. It gave favorable results, though.

The effects of huperzine A and IDRA 21 on visual recognition memory in young macaques

^This, like most non-dementia research into HupA, is an animal study. But we chose to spotlight this one because, unlike most of the studies, it did not chemically lobotomize the animals first; they were and remained healthy. That said, huperzine A improved the memory scores most for the monkeys that performed worst without it initially.

Where can I get it?

As ever, we don’t sell it, but here’s an example product on Amazon for your convenience

Enjoy!

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  • Ozempic Helps People Walk Further

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    There’s often a catch-22 when it comes to exercise: it’s important for good health, and/but people with ill health usually cannot exercise much.

    A recent (published today, at time of writing, the 29th of March 2025, never let it be said we don’t bring you the very most up-to-date health science!) study by Dr. Neda Rasouli et al. has shown there is a possible way through that catch-22, depending on the nature of the illness.

    This study followed 792 people across 112 outpatient clinical trial sites in 20 countries in North America, Asia, and Europe, with type 2 diabetes and peripheral artery disease.

    What they found

    Patients taking semaglutide (specifically, 1mg Ozempic) enjoyed a 21% median increase in walking distance, as well as some bonus benefits, namely:

    • Weight reduction: the semaglutide group saw a greater reduction in body weight (–4.1 kg; P < 0 .0001)
    • HbA1c levels: semaglutide lowered HbA1c by 1 percentage point (P < 0.0001)
    • Blood pressure: systolic blood pressure decreased by 3.2 mmHg (P = 0.0042)

    You may be wondering what that “P =” means: it’s the probability of this occurring by random chance, on a scale from zero (impossible outcome) to 1 (unavoidable outcome).

    For example:

    “We hypothesized that singing the happy birthday song before tossing a coin would result in it landing on heads. We sang the happy birthday song and tossed the coin; it landed on heads (P = 0.5)”

    In science, generally speaking anything with a probability of under 0.05 (expressed as: “P < 0.05”) is considered a statistically significant result.

    All this to say, the cited figures of, for example, P < 0.0001, are very significant indeed.

    On which note, that 21% median increase in walking distance? P < 0.0004.

    As for side effects? Serious adverse events related to the drug occurred in 1% of the semaglutide group vs 2% in the placebo group. So, that seems quite safe indeed.

    You can find the paper itself here:

    Semaglutide and walking capacity in people with symptomatic peripheral artery disease and type 2 diabetes (STRIDE): a phase 3b, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

    Want to learn more?

    Check out:

    Take care!

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  • Corn Chips vs Potato Chips: 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 corn chips to potato chips, we picked the corn chips.

    Why?

    First, let it be said, this was definitely a case of “lesser evil voting” as there was no healthy choice here. But as for which is relatively least unhealthy…

    Most of the macronutrient and micronutrient profile is quite similar. Both foods are high carb, moderately high fat, negligible protein, and contain some trace minerals and even some tiny amounts of vitamins. Both are unhealthily salty.

    Exact numbers will of course vary from one brand’s product to another, but you can see some indicative aggregate scores here in the USDA’s “FoodData Central” database:

    Corn Chips | Potato Chips

    The biggest health-related difference that doesn’t have something to balance it out is that the glycemic index of corn chips averages around 63, whereas the glycemic index of potato chips averages around 70 (that is worse).

    That’s enough to just about tip the scales in favor of corn chips.

    The decision thus having been made in favor of corn chips (and the next information not having been part of that decision), we’ll mention one circumstantial extra benefit to corn chips:

    Corn chips are usually eaten with some kind of dip (e.g. guacamole, sour cream, tomato salsa, etc) which can thus deliver actual nutrients. Potato chips meanwhile are generally eaten with no additional nutrients. So while we can’t claim the dip as being part of the nutritional make-up of the corn chips, we can say:

    If you’re going to have a habit of eating one or the other, then corn chips are probably the least unhealthy of the two.

    And yes, getting vegetables (e.g. in the dips) in ways that are not typically associated with “healthy eating” is still better than not getting vegetables at all!

    Check out: Level-Up Your Fiber Intake! (Without Difficulty Or Discomfort)

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  • Rose Hips vs Blueberries – Which is Healthier?

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    Our Verdict

    When comparing rose hips to blueberries, we picked the rose hips.

    Why?

    Both of these fruits are abundant sources of antioxidants and other polyphenols, but one of them stands out for overall nutritional density:

    In terms of macros, rose hips have about 2x the carbohydrates, and/but about 10x the fiber. That’s an easy calculation and a clear win for rose hips.

    When it comes to vitamins, rose hips have a lot more of vitamins A, B2, B3, B5, B6, C, E, K, and choline. On the other hand, blueberries boast more of vitamins B1 and B9. That’s a 9:2 lead for rose hips, even before we consider rose hips’ much greater margins of difference (kicking off with 80x the vitamin A, for instance, and many multiples of many of the others).

    In the category of minerals, rose hips have a lot more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. Meanwhile, blueberries are not higher in any minerals.

    In short: as ever, enjoy both, but if you’re looking for nutritional density, there’s a clear winner here and it’s rose hips.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    It’s In The Hips: Rosehip’s Benefits, Inside & Out

    Take care!

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  • New research suggests intermittent fasting increases the risk of dying from heart disease. But the evidence is mixed

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    Kaitlin Day, RMIT University and Sharayah Carter, RMIT University

    Intermittent fasting has gained popularity in recent years as a dietary approach with potential health benefits. So you might have been surprised to see headlines last week suggesting the practice could increase a person’s risk of death from heart disease.

    The news stories were based on recent research which found a link between time-restricted eating, a form of intermittent fasting, and an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease, or heart disease.

    So what can we make of these findings? And how do they measure up with what else we know about intermittent fasting and heart disease?

    The study in question

    The research was presented as a scientific poster at an American Heart Association conference last week. The full study hasn’t yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

    The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a long-running survey that collects information from a large number of people in the United States.

    This type of research, known as observational research, involves analysing large groups of people to identify relationships between lifestyle factors and disease. The study covered a 15-year period.

    It showed people who ate their meals within an eight-hour window faced a 91% increased risk of dying from heart disease compared to those spreading their meals over 12 to 16 hours. When we look more closely at the data, it suggests 7.5% of those who ate within eight hours died from heart disease during the study, compared to 3.6% of those who ate across 12 to 16 hours.

    We don’t know if the authors controlled for other factors that can influence health, such as body weight, medication use or diet quality. It’s likely some of these questions will be answered once the full details of the study are published.

    It’s also worth noting that participants may have eaten during a shorter window for a range of reasons – not necessarily because they were intentionally following a time-restricted diet. For example, they may have had a poor appetite due to illness, which could have also influenced the results.

    Other research

    Although this research may have a number of limitations, its findings aren’t entirely unique. They align with several other published studies using the NHANES data set.

    For example, one study showed eating over a longer period of time reduced the risk of death from heart disease by 64% in people with heart failure.

    Another study in people with diabetes showed those who ate more frequently had a lower risk of death from heart disease.

    A recent study found an overnight fast shorter than ten hours and longer than 14 hours increased the risk dying from of heart disease. This suggests too short a fast could also be a problem.

    But I thought intermittent fasting was healthy?

    There are conflicting results about intermittent fasting in the scientific literature, partly due to the different types of intermittent fasting.

    There’s time restricted eating, which limits eating to a period of time each day, and which the current study looks at. There are also different patterns of fast and feed days, such as the well-known 5:2 diet, where on fast days people generally consume about 25% of their energy needs, while on feed days there is no restriction on food intake.

    Despite these different fasting patterns, systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) consistently demonstrate benefits for intermittent fasting in terms of weight loss and heart disease risk factors (for example, blood pressure and cholesterol levels).

    RCTs indicate intermittent fasting yields comparable improvements in these areas to other dietary interventions, such as daily moderate energy restriction.

    A group of people eating around a table.
    There are a variety of intermittent fasting diets. Fauxels/Pexels

    So why do we see such different results?

    RCTs directly compare two conditions, such as intermittent fasting versus daily energy restriction, and control for a range of factors that could affect outcomes. So they offer insights into causal relationships we can’t get through observational studies alone.

    However, they often focus on specific groups and short-term outcomes. On average, these studies follow participants for around 12 months, leaving long-term effects unknown.

    While observational research provides valuable insights into population-level trends over longer periods, it relies on self-reporting and cannot demonstrate cause and effect.

    Relying on people to accurately report their own eating habits is tricky, as they may have difficulty remembering what and when they ate. This is a long-standing issue in observational studies and makes relying only on these types of studies to help us understand the relationship between diet and disease challenging.

    It’s likely the relationship between eating timing and health is more complex than simply eating more or less regularly. Our bodies are controlled by a group of internal clocks (our circadian rhythm), and when our behaviour doesn’t align with these clocks, such as when we eat at unusual times, our bodies can have trouble managing this.

    So, is intermittent fasting safe?

    There’s no simple answer to this question. RCTs have shown it appears a safe option for weight loss in the short term.

    However, people in the NHANES dataset who eat within a limited period of the day appear to be at higher risk of dying from heart disease. Of course, many other factors could be causing them to eat in this way, and influence the results.

    When faced with conflicting data, it’s generally agreed among scientists that RCTs provide a higher level of evidence. There are too many unknowns to accept the conclusions of an epidemiological study like this one without asking questions. Unsurprisingly, it has been subject to criticism.

    That said, to gain a better understanding of the long-term safety of intermittent fasting, we need to be able follow up individuals in these RCTs over five or ten years.

    In the meantime, if you’re interested in trying intermittent fasting, you should speak to a health professional first.

    Kaitlin Day, Lecturer in Human Nutrition, RMIT University and Sharayah Carter, Lecturer Nutrition and Dietetics, RMIT University

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

    The Conversation

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  • 5 Ways To Beat Cancer (And Other Diseases)

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    A Systematic Approach To Healthy Eating

    Dr. William Li, known for ways to beat cancer and other diseases, in front of a blue background.

    This is Dr. William Li. He’s a physician, cancer researcher, and educator. He also founded the Angiogenesis Foundation back in 1994.

    We recently reviewed one of his books, “Eat To Beat Disease”.

    He has another book that we haven’t reviewed at time of writing, “Eat To Beat Your Diet“, which you might like to check out.

    What does he want us to know?

    He wants us to know how to eat to beat cancer and other diseases, by means of five specific angles:

    Angiogenesis

    This is about replacing blood vessels, which of course happens all the time, but it becomes a problem when it is feeding a cancer in the process.

    Here, based on Dr. Li’s work, is what can be done about it:

    A List of Anti-Angiogenic Foods for a Cancer-Fighting Diet

    Regeneration

    Generally speaking, we want to replace healthy cells early, because if we wait until they get damaged, then that damage will be copied forwards. As well as intermittent fasting, there are other things we can do to promote this—even, Dr. Li’s research shows, for stem cells:

    Doctor’s Tip: Regeneration (stem cells)—one of your body’s five defense systems

    Microbiome health

    Healthy gut, healthy rest of the body. We’ve written about this before:

    Making Friends With Your Gut (You Can Thank Us Later)

    DNA protection

    DNA gets unravelled and damaged with age, the telomere caps get shorter, and mistakes get copied forward. So there more we can protect our DNA, the longer we can live healthily. There are many ways to do this, but Dr. Li was one of the first to bring to light the DNA-protecting benefits of kiwi fruit:

    Kiwi: A Darling for DNA

    Immunity

    Paradoxically, what’s good for your immune system (making it stronger) also helps to protect against autoimmune diseases (for most people, for the most part).

    In short: it’s good to have an immune system that’s powerful not just in its counterattacks, but also in its discerning nature. There are dietary and other lifestyle approaches to both, and they’re mostly the same things:

    Beyond Supplements: The Real Immune-Boosters!

    and thus see also:

    Keep Inflammation At Bay

    Want to know more?

    You might enjoy his blog or podcast, and here’s his TED talk:

    !

    Want to watch it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later

    Enjoy!

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  • 8 Signs Of Iodine Deficiency You Might Not Expect

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    Health Coach Kait (BSc Nutrition & Exercise) is a certified health and nutrition coach, and today she’s here to talk about iodine—which is important for many of our body functions, from thyroid hormone production to metabolic regulation to heart rate management, as well as more superficial-but-important-too things like our skin and hair.

    Kait’s hitlist

    Here’s what she recommends we look out for:

    • Swollen neck: even a slightly swollen neck might indicate low iodine levels (this is because that’s where the thyroid glands are)
    • Hair loss: iodine is needed for healthy hair growth, so a deficiency can lead to hair loss / thinning hair
    • Dry and flaky skin: with iodine’s role in our homeostatic system not being covered, our skin can dry out as a result
    • Feeling cold all the time: because of iodine’s temperature-regulating activities
    • Slow heart rate: A metabolic slump due to iodine deficiency can slow down the heart rate, leading to fatigue and weakness (and worse, if it persists)
    • Brain fog: trouble focusing can be a symptom of the same metabolic slump
    • Fatigue: this is again more or less the same thing, but she said eight signs, so we’re giving you the eight!
    • Irregular period (if you normally have such, of course): because iodine affects reproductive hormones too, an imbalance can disrupt menstrual cycles.

    For more on each of these, as well as how to get more iodine in your diet, enjoy:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

    Further reading

    You might also like to read:

    Take care!

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