Is Marine Collagen Worth Taking?

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Questions and Answers 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!

This newsletter has been growing a lot lately, and so have the questions/requests, and we love that! 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 wanted to ask if you think marine collagen is decent to take. I’ve heard a lot of bad press about it

We don’t know what you’ve heard, but generally speaking it’s been found to be very beneficial to bones, joints, and skin! We wrote about it quite recently on a “Research Review Monday”:

See: We Are Such Stuff As Fish Are Made Of

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Recommended

  • In Plain English…
  • Mindsight – by Dr. Daniel Siegel
    Is “Mindsight” just another book on the “new science of…”? Not quite. With solid research and practical tools, it’s the ultimate guide to mindfulness.

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  • Where Nutrition Meets Habits!

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    Where Nutrition Meets Habits…

    This is Claudia Canu, MSc., INESEM. She’s on a mission to change the way we eat:

    Often, diet is a case of…

    • Healthy
    • Easy
    • Cheap

    (choose two)

    She wants to make it all three, and tasty too. She has her work cut out for her, but she’s already blazed quite a trail personally:

    Nine months before turning 40 years old, I set a challenge for myself: Arrive to the day I turn 40 as the best possible version of myself, physically, mentally and emotionally.❞

    ~ Claudia Canu

    In Her Own Words: My Journey To My Healthy 40s

    And it really was quite a journey:

    For those of us who’d like the short-cut rather than a nine-month quasi-spiritual journey… based on both her experience, and her academic and professional background in nutrition, her main priorities that she settled on were:

    • Making meals actually nutritionally balanced, which meant re-thinking what she thought a meal “should” be
    • Making nutritionally balanced meals that didn’t require a lot of skill and/or resources
    • That’s it!

    But, easier said than done… Where to begin?

    She shares an extensive list of recipes, from meals to snacks (I thought I was the only one who made coffee overnight oats!), but the most important thing from her is:

    Claudia’s 10 Guiding Principles:

    1. Buy only fresh ingredients that you are going to cook yourself. If you decide to buy pre-cooked ones, make sure they do not have added ingredients, especially sugar (in all its forms).
    2. Use easy and simple cooking methods.
    3. Change ingredients every time you prepare your meals.
    4. Prepare large quantities for three or four days.
    5. Store the food separately in tightly closed Tupperware.
    6. Organize yourself to always have ready-to-eat food in the fridge.
    7. When hungry, mix the ingredients in the ideal amounts to cover the needs of your body.
    8. Chew well and take the time to taste your food.
    9. Eat foods that you like and enjoy.
    10. Do not overeat but don’t undereat either.

    We have only two quibbles with this fine list, which are:

    About Ingredients!

    Depending on what’s available around you, frozen and/or tinned “one-ingredient” foods can be as nutritional as (if not more nutritional than) fresh ones. By “one-ingredient” foods here we mean that if you buy a frozen pack of chopped onions, the ingredients list will be: “chopped onions”. If you buy a tin of tomatoes, the ingredients will say “Tomatoes” or at most “Tomatoes, Tomato Juice”, for example.

    She does list the ingredients she keeps in; the idea that with these in the kitchen, you’ll never be in the position of “oh, we don’t have much in, I guess it’s a pizza delivery night” or “well there are some chicken nuggets at the back of the freezer”.

    Check Out And Plan: 10 Types Of Ingredients You Should Always Keep In Your Kitchen

    Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?

    Preparing large quantities for three or four days can result in food for one or two days if the food is unduly delicious

    But! Claudia has a remedy for that:

    Read: How To Eliminate Food Cravings And What To Do When They Win

    Anyway, there’s a wealth of resources in the above-linked pages, so do check them out!

    Perhaps the biggest take-away is to ask yourself:

    “What are my guiding principles when it comes to food?”

    If you don’t have a ready answer, maybe it’s time to tackle that—whether Claudia’s way or your own!

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  • Natto, Taurine + Black Pepper, And Other Game-Changers

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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

    ❝Loved the info on nuts; of course I always eat pecans, which didn’t make the list of healthy nuts!❞

    Dear subscriber, pardon the paraphrase of your comment—somehow it got deleted and now exists only in this writer’s memory. However, to address it:

    Pecans are great too! We can’t include everything in every article (indeed, we got another feedback the same day saying the article was too long), but we love when you come to us with stuff for us to look at and write about (seriously, writer here: the more you ask, the easier it makes my job), so let’s talk pecans for a moment:

    Pecans would have been number six on our list if we’d have written more!

    Like many nuts, they’ve an abundance of healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

    They’re particularly good for zinc, which is vital for immune function, healing (including normal recovery after normal exercise), and DNA synthesis (so: anti-aging).

    Pecans are also great for reducing LDL (“bad” cholesterol) and triglycerides (which are also bad for heart health); check it out:

    Pecan-Enriched Diets Alter Cholesterol Profiles and Triglycerides in Adults at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease in a Randomized, Controlled Trial

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  • Knitting helps Tom Daley switch off. Its mental health benefits are not just for Olympians

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    Olympian Tom Daley is the most decorated diver in Britain’s history. He is also an avid knitter. At the Paris 2024 Olympics Daley added a fifth medal to his collection – and caught the world’s attention knitting a bright blue “Paris 24” jumper while travelling to the games and in the stands.

    At the Tokyo Olympics, where Daley was first spotted knitting, he explained its positive impact on his mental health.

    It just turned into my mindfulness, my meditation, my calm and my way to escape the stresses of everyday life and, in particular, going to an Olympics.

    The mental health benefits of knitting are well established. So why is someone famous like Daley knitting in public still so surprising?

    Africa Voice/Shutterstock

    Knitting is gendered

    Knitting is usually associated with women – especially older women – as a hobby done at home. In a large international survey of knitting, 99% of respondents identified as female.

    But the history of yarn crafts and gender is more tangled. In Europe in the middle ages, knitting guilds were exclusive and reserved for men. They were part of a respected Europe-wide trade addressing a demand for knitted products that could not be satisfied by domestic workers alone.

    The industrial revolution made the production of clothed goods cheaper and faster than hand-knitting. Knitting and other needle crafts became a leisure activity for women, done in the private sphere of the home.

    World Wars I and II turned the spotlight back on knitting as a “patriotic duty”, but it was still largely taken up by women.

    During COVID lockdowns, knitting saw another resurgence. But knitting still most often makes headlines when men – especially famous men like Daley or actor Ryan Gosling – do it.

    Men who knit are often seen as subverting the stereotype it’s an activity for older women.

    Knitting the stress away

    Knitting can produce a sense of pride and accomplishment. But for an elite sportsperson like Daley – whose accomplishments already include four gold medals and one silver – its benefits lie elsewhere.

    Olympics-level sport relies on perfect scores and world records. When it comes to knitting, many of the mental health benefits are associated with the process, rather than the end result.

    Daley says knitting is the “one thing” that allows him to switch off completely, describing it as “my therapy”. https://www.youtube.com/embed/6wwXGOki–c?wmode=transparent&start=0

    The Olympian says he could

    knit for hours on end, honestly. There’s something that’s so satisfying to me about just having that rhythm and that little “click-clack” of the knitting needles. There is not a day that goes by where I don’t knit.

    Knitting can create a “flow” state through rhythmic, repetitive movements of the yarn and needle. Flow offers us a balance between challenge, accessibility and a sense of control.

    It’s been shown to have benefits relieving stress in high-pressure jobs beyond elite sport. Among surgeons, knitting has been found to improve wellbeing as well as manual dexterity, crucial to their role.

    For other health professionals – including oncology nurses and mental health workers – knitting has helped to reduce “compassion fatigue” and burnout. Participants described the soothing noise of their knitting needles. They developed and strengthened team bonds through collective knitting practices. https://www.youtube.com/embed/dTTJjD_q2Ik?wmode=transparent&start=0 A Swiss psychiatrist says for those with trauma, knitting yarn can be like “knitting the two halves” of the brain “back together”.

    Another study showed knitting in primary school may boost children’s executive function. That includes the ability to pay attention, remember relevant details and block out distractions.

    As a regular creative practice, it has also been used in the treatment of grief, depression and subduing intrusive thoughts, as well countering chronic pain and cognitive decline.

    Knitting is a community

    The evidence for the benefits of knitting is often based on self-reporting. These studies tend to produce consistent results and involve large population samples.

    This may point to another benefit of knitting: its social aspect.

    Knitting and other yarn crafts can be done alone, and usually require simple materials. But they also provide a chance to socialise by bringing people together around a common interest, which can help reduce loneliness.

    The free needle craft database and social network Ravelry contains more than one million patterns, contributed by users. “Yarn bombing” projects aim to engage the community and beautify public places by covering objects such as benches and stop signs with wool.

    The interest in Daley’s knitting online videos have formed a community of their own.

    In them he shows the process of making the jumper, not just the finished product. That includes where he “went wrong” and had to unwind his work.

    His pride in the finished product – a little bit wonky, but “made with love” – can be a refreshing antidote to the flawless achievements often on display at the Olympics.

    Michelle O’Shea, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University and Gabrielle Weidemann, Associate Professor in Psychological Science, Western Sydney University

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

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  • In Plain English…
  • Quercetin Quinoa Probiotic Salad

    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.

    This quercetin-rich salad is a bit like a tabbouleh in feel, with half of the ingredients switched out to maximize phenolic and gut-healthy benefits.

    You will need

    • ½ cup quinoa
    • ½ cup kale, finely chopped
    • ½ cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
    • ½ cup green olives, thinly sliced
    • ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
    • 1 pomegranate, peel and pith removed
    • 1 preserved lemon, finely chopped
    • 1 oz feta cheese or plant-based equivalent, crumbled
    • 1 tsp black pepper, coarse ground
    • 1 tbsp capers
    • 1 tbsp chia seeds
    • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

    Note: you shouldn’t need salt or similar here, because of the diverse gut-healthy fermented products bringing their own salt with them

    Method

    (we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

    1) Rinse the quinoa, add the tbsp of chia seeds, cook as normal for quinoa (i.e. add hot water, bring to boil, simmer for 15 minutes or so until pearly and tender), carefully (don’t lose the chia seeds; use a sieve) drain and rinse with cold water to cool. Shake off excess water and/or pat dry on kitchen paper if necessary.

    2) Mix everything gently but thoroughly.

    3) Serve:

    Enjoy!

    Want to learn more?

    For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

    Take care!

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  • Healthy Relationship, Healthy Life

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    Only One Kind Of Relationship Promotes Longevity This Much!

    One of the well-established keys of a long healthy life is being in a fulfilling relationship. That’s not to say that one can’t be single and happy and fulfilled—one totally can. But statistically, those who live longest, do so in happy, fulfilling, committed relationships.

    Note: happy, fulfilling, committed relationships. Less than that won’t do. Your insurance company might care about your marital status for its own sake, but your actual health doesn’t—it’s about the emotional safety and security that a good, healthy, happy, fulfilling relationship offers.

    How to keep the “love coals” warm

    When “new relationship energy” subsides and we’ve made our way hand-in-hand through the “honeymoon period”, what next? For many, a life of routine. And that’s not intrinsically bad—routine itself can be comforting! But for love to work, according to relational psychologists, it also needs something a little more.

    What things? Let’s break it down…

    Bids for connection—and responsiveness to same

    There’s an oft-quoted story about a person who knew their marriage was over when their spouse wouldn’t come look at their tomatoes. That may seem overblown, but…

    When we care about someone, we want to share our life with them. Not just in the sense of cohabitation and taxes, but in the sense of:

    • Little moments of joy
    • Things we learned
    • Things we saw
    • Things we did

    …and there’s someone we’re first to go to share these things with. And when we do, that’s a “bid for connection”. It’s important that we:

    • Make bids for connection frequently
    • Respond appropriately to our partner’s bids for connection

    Of course, we cannot always give everything our full attention. But whenever we can, we should show as much genuine interest as we can.

    Keep asking the important questions

    Not just “what shall we have for dinner?”, but:

    • “What’s a life dream that you have at the moment?”
    • “What are the most important things in life?”
    • “What would you regret not doing, if you never got the chance?”

    …and so forth. Even after many years with a partner, the answers can sometimes surprise us. Not because we don’t know our partners, but because the answers can change with time, and sometimes we can even surprise ourselves, if it’s a question we haven’t considered for a while.

    It’s good to learn and grow like this together—and to keep doing so!

    Express gratitude/appreciation

    For the little things as well as the big:

    • Thank you for staying by my side during life’s storms
    • Thank you for bringing me a coffee
    • Thank you for taking on these responsibilities with me
    • I really appreciate your DIY skills
    • I really appreciate your understanding nature

    On which note…

    Compliment, often and sincerely

    Most importantly, compliment things intrinsic to their character, not just peripheral attributes like appearance, and also not just what they do for you.

    • You’re such a patient person; I really admire that
    • I really hit the jackpot to get someone I can trust so completely as you
    • You are the kindest and sweetest soul I have ever encountered in life
    • I love that you have such a blend of strength and compassion
    • Your unwavering dedication to your personal values makes me so proud

    …whatever goes for your partner and how you see them and what you love about them!

    Express your needs, and ask about theirs

    We’re none of us mind-readers, and it’s easy to languish in “if they really cared, I wouldn’t have to ask”, or conversely, “if they wanted something, they would surely say so”.

    Communicate. Effectively. Life is too short to waste in miscommunication and unsaid things!

    We covered much more detailed how-tos of this in a previous issue, but good double-whammy of top tier communication is:

    • “I need…” / “Please will you…”
    • “What do you need?” / “How can I help?”

    Touch. Often.

    It takes about 20 seconds of sustained contact for oxytocin to take effect, so remember that when you hug your partner, hold hands when walking, or cuddle up the sofa.

    Have regular date nights

    It doesn’t have to be fancy. A date night can be cooking together, it can be watching a movie together at home. It can be having a scheduled time to each bring a “big question” or five, from what we talked about above!

    Most importantly: it’s a planned shared experience where the intent is to enjoy each other’s romantic company, and have a focus on each other. Having a regularly recurring date night, be it the last day of each month, or every second Saturday, or every Friday night, whatever your schedules allow, makes such a big difference to feel you are indeed “dating” and in the full flushes of love—not merely cohabiting pleasantly.

    Want ideas?

    Check out these:

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  • Healthy Hormones And How To Hack Them

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    Healthy Hormones And How To Hack Them!

    Hormones are vital for far more than they tend to get credit for. Even the hormones that people think of first—testosterone and estrogen—do a lot more than just build/maintain sexual characteristics and sexual function. Without them, we’d lack energy, we’d be depressed, and we’d soon miss the general smooth-running of our bodies that we take for granted.

    And that’s without getting to the many less-talked-about hormones that play a secondary sexual role or are in the same general system…

    How are your prolactin levels, for example?

    Unless you’re ill, taking certain medications, recently gave birth, or picked a really interesting time to read this newsletter, they’re probably normal, by the way.

    But, prolactin can explain “la petite mort”, the downturn in energy and the somewhat depressed mood that many men experience after orgasm.

    Otherwise, if you have too much prolactin in general, you will be sleepy and depressed.

    Prolactin’s primary role? In women, it stimulates milk production when needed. In men, it plays a role in regulating mood and metabolism.

    Read: What Causes High Prolactin Levels in Men?

    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: