Licorice, Digestion, & Hormones
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Let’s Take A Look At Licorice…
Licorice, as a confectionary, is mostly sugar and is useless for medicinal purposes.
Licorice (Glycyrrhiza sp., most often Glycyrrhiza glabra), in the form of either the root extract (which can be taken as a supplement, or used topically) or the whole root (which can be taken as a powder/capsule, or used to make tea), is a medicinal plant with a long history of use.
How well-evidenced is it for its popular uses?
Licorice for digestion
In this case, it is more accurate to say that it combats indigestion, including acid reflux and ulcerative colitis:
Systematic Review on Herbal Preparations for Controlling Visceral Hypersensitivity in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders ← licorice was a top-tier performer in this review
Network pharmacology mechanisms and experimental verification of licorice in the treatment of ulcerative colitis ← looking at the mechanism of action; ultimately they concluded that “licorice improves ulcerative colitis, which may be related to the activation of the Nrf2/PINK1 signaling pathway that regulates autophagy.“
Licorice vs menopause symptoms
This one, while a popular use, isn’t so clear. Here’s a study that examines the compounds in licorice (in this case, Glycyrrhiza uralensis) that interact with estrogen receptors, notes that the bioavailability is poor, and proposes, tests, and recommends a way to make it more bioavailable:
On the other hand, it is established that it will lower serum testosterone levels, which may make it beneficial for menopause and/or PCOS:
Polycystic ovaries and herbal remedies: A systematic review
Licorice for men
You may be wondering: what about for men? Well, the jury is out on whether it meaningfully reduces free testosterone levels:
Licorice consumption and serum testosterone in healthy men
See also:
And finally, it may (notwithstanding its disputed effect on testosterone itself) be useful as a safer alternative to finasteride (an antiandrogen mostly commonly used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, also used to as a hair loss remedy), since it (like finasteride) modulates 5α-reductase activity (this enzyme converts testosterone to the more potent dihydrogen testosterone, DHT), without lowering sperm count:
Licorice for the skin
As well as its potentially estrogenic activity, its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant powers make it comparable to hydrocortisone cream for treating eczema, psoriasis, and other such skin conditions:
New Herbal Biomedicines for the Topical Treatment of Dermatological Disorders
Is it safe?
It is “generally recognized as safe”, as the classification goes.
However, consumed in excess it can cause/worsen hypertension, and other contraindications include if you’re on blood thinners, or have kidney problems.
As ever, this is a non-exhaustive list, so do speak with your doctor/pharmacist to be sure.
Want to try some?
We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon
Enjoy!
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Creatine: Very Different For Young & Old People
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What’s the Deal with Creatine?
Creatine is best-known for its use as a sports supplement. It has a few other uses too, usually in the case of helping to treat (or recover from) specific medical conditions.
What actually is it?
Creatine is an organic compound formed from amino acids (mostly l-arginine and lysine, can be l-methionine, but that’s not too important for our purposes here).
We can take it as a supplement, we can get it in our diet (unless we’re vegan, because plants don’t make it; vertebrates do), and we can synthesize it in our own bodies.
What does it do?
While creatine supplements mostly take the form of creatine monohydrate, in the body it’s mostly stored in our muscle tissue as phosphocreatine, and it helps cells produce adenosine triphosphate, (ATP).
ATP is how energy is kept ready to use by cells, and is cells’ immediate go-to when they need to do something. For this reason, it’s highly instrumental in cell repair and rebuilding—which is why it’s used so much by athletes, especially bodybuilders or other athletes that have a vested interest in gaining muscle mass and enjoying faster recovery times.
See: Creatine use among young athletes
However! For reasons as yet not fully known, it doesn’t seem to have the same beneficial effect after a certain age:
What about the uses outside of sport?
Almost all studies outside of athletic performance have been on animals, despite it being suggested as potentially helpful for many things, including:
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Huntington’s disease
- ischemic stroke
- epilepsy
- brain or spinal cord injuries
- motor neuron disease
- memory and brain function in older adults
However, research that’s been done on humans has been scant, if promising:
- A review of creatine supplementation in age-related diseases: more than a supplement for athletes
- Creatine supplementation and cognitive performance in elderly individuals
In short: creatine may reduce symptoms and slow the progression of some neurological diseases, although more research in humans is needed, and words such as “promising”, “potential”, etc are doing a lot of the heavy lifting in those papers we just cited.
Is it safe?
It seems so: Creatine supplementation and health variables: a retrospective study
Nor does it appear to create the sometimes-rumored kidney problems, cramps, or dehydration:
Where can I get it?
You can get it from pretty much any sports nutrition outlet, or you can order online. For example:
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Do This Before Walking To Suffer Less (It Takes 30 Seconds)
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This one’s for if you:
- find walking feels more tiring than it used to
- have difficulty keeping up with younger people
- experience back, hip, or knee pain while walking
- soon shuffle or feel weak when walking
Addressing the seat of the problem
One of the main causes of this is an age-related loss of mind-muscle connection, especially in the glutes.
That may sound a little mystical, but what it means is: when your brain tells your nerves to tell your muscles to do a certain thing, sometimes that signal gets lost along the way.
That’s a problem in this case because the gluteal muscles are needed for pelvic and leg alignment, so when they’re inactive, walking becomes slower and harder.
The solution: a 30-second “glute activation” exercise before walking can “wake up” the muscles and make walking easier and less tiring.
Three ways to do it:
- basic version (no equipment): stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees slightly, stick your butt out, and walk sideways 4–5 steps in each direction in a mini squat position; do this for 30 seconds.
- band-resisted version (long band): attach a resistance band to a sturdy object; hold both ends, enter a mini squat, and take 2 slow sideways steps out and back, maintaining tension; repeat on both sides.
- loop band version: wrap a resistance loop just above your knees, get into a mini squat, and do the above-described slow crab walk to resist the band’s pull.
For more on each of these plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
How To Make Downhill Walking Easier On The Knees
Take care!
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‘I can’t quite shut it off’: Prevalence of insomnia a growing concern for women
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Tasha Werner, 43, gets up at 3:30 a.m. twice a week for her part-time job at a fitness centre in Calgary. After a five-hour shift, she is back home by 9 a.m. to homeschool her two children, aged 9 and 12. The hardest part of her position – stay-at-home mom, homeschool teacher and part-time worker – is the downtime “lost from my life,” says Werner.A study by Howard M. Kravitz, a psychiatrist in Chicago, showed that up to 60 per cent of women experience sleep disorders due to hormonal changes linked to menopause. But there is an increasing prevalence of insomnia symptoms in women that may be attributed, in part, to societal changes.
“We live in a world that didn’t exist a generation ago. Now everyone is trying to figure it out,” says Michael Grandner, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona.
While women are no longer expected to stay at home, many who are employed outside the home also have the primary responsibility for family matters. And women aged 40 to 60 commonly fall within the “sandwich generation,” caring for both children and parents.
As women juggle their responsibilities, these duties can take a toll, both emotionally and practically.
Both Werner and her husband were raised in traditional homes; their mothers stayed at home to oversee childcare, cooking, grocery shopping and household duties. Initially, Werner and her husband followed a similar path, mirroring their parents’ lives as homemakers. “I think we just fell into what we were used to,” says Werner.
However, a notable shift in their family dynamics occurred once she started working outside the home.
Her children’s physical needs and illnesses have had major consequences on her sleep. If one of the children is sick with the flu, that’s “a week of not a lot of sleep during the night,” she says, “because that’s my job.” Many nights, she finds herself waking up between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., worrying about how the kids are doing academically or behaviourally.
“We face a specific set of anxieties and a different set of pressures than men,” says Emma Kobil, who has been a therapist in Denver, Colo., for 15 years and is now an insomnia coach. There is so much pressure to be everything as a woman – to be an amazing homemaker and worker while maintaining a hot-rocking body and having a cool personality, to “be the cool mom but also the CEO, to follow your dreams and be the boss b****,” says Kobil.
And there’s an appeal to that concept. Daughters grow up viewing their moms as superwomen juggling responsibilities. But what isn’t always obvious are the challenges women face while managing their lives and the health issues they may encounter.
A study revealed that women are 41 per cent more at risk of insomnia than men.
A thorough study revealed that women are 41 per cent more at risk of insomnia than men. Beyond menopausal hormonal shifts, societal pressures, maternal concerns and the challenge of balancing multiple roles contribute to women’s increased susceptibility to insomnia.
Cyndi Aarrestad, 57, lives on a farm in Saskatchewan with her husband, Denis. Now an empty nester, Aarrestad fills her time working on the farm, keeping house, volunteering at her church and managing her small woodworking business. And she struggles with sleep.
Despite implementing some remedies, including stretching, drinking calming teas and rubbing her feet before bed, Aarrestad says achieving restful sleep has remained elusive for the past decade.
Two primary factors contribute to her sleep challenges — her inability to quiet her mind and hormonal hot flashes due to menopause. Faced with family and outside commitments, Aarrestad finds it challenging to escape night time’s mental chatter. “It’s a mom thing for me … I can’t quite shut it off.” Even as her children transitioned to young adulthood and moved out, the worries persisted, highlighting the lasting concerns moms have about their kids’ jobs, relationships and overall well-being.
Therapist Kobil says that every woman she’s ever worked with experiences this pressure to do everything, to be perfect. These women feel like they’re not measuring up. They’re encouraged to take on other people’s burdens; to be the confidante and the saviour in many ways; to sacrifice themselves. Sleep disruptions simply reflect the consequences of this pressure.
“They’re trying to fit 20 hours in a 24-hour day, and it doesn’t work,” says Grandner, the sleep specialist.
Grandner says that consistently sleeping six hours or less as an adult makes one 55 per cent more likely to become obese, 20 per cent more likely to develop high blood pressure, and 30 per cent more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes if you didn’t have it already. This lack of sleep makes you more likely to catch the flu. It makes vaccines less effective, and it increases your likelihood of developing depression and anxiety.
When is the time to change? Yesterday. Grandner warns that the sleep sacrifices made at a young age impact health later. But it’s never too late to make changes, he says, and “you do the best with what you’ve got.”
Kobil suggests a practical approach for women struggling with sleep. She emphasizes understanding that sleeplessness isn’t a threat and encourages a shift in mindset about being awake. Instead of fighting sleeplessness, she advises treating oneself kindly, recognizing the difficulty.
Kobil recommends creating a simple playbook with comforting activities for awake moments during the night. Just as you would comfort a child who’s afraid, she suggests being gentle with yourself, gradually changing the perception of wakefulness into a positive experience.
This article is republished from HealthyDebate under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Leaded or Unleaded Clothing?
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.
…and other items from this week’s health news:
Fast fashion, heavy fashion?
In few words: researchers presenting at the American Chemical Society found that all children’s shirts tested exceeded the US lead safety limit of 100 ppm.
Now, it may seem alarming that clothing even has a 100ppm lead safety limit, because surely the correct amount of lead to have in clothing is zero. Of course, lead exposure at any level is harmful and is linked to brain damage, behavioral issues, and nervous system effects, with children under 6 being especially vulnerable.
And worse, the lead wasn’t just in metal parts like buttons or zippers but also embedded directly in the fabric, likely from dye-fixing chemicals such as lead(II) acetate.
The next step from this now is that the researchers are investigating whether washing contaminated clothes could spread lead directly to other garments and/or leave residue in washing machines to spread it to other garments washed next.
Read in full: Study finds dangerous lead levels in children’s clothing
Related: Are You Inhaling Microplastics In Your House? ← clothing is a big contributor to this, and tumble-driers especially will exacerbate the problem
BMI found to be even less useful than previously accepted
Shocking no regular 10almonds readers (because the fact that BMI still gets used the way it does is a pet hate of the writing staff), researchers presenting at the European Congress on Obesity 2026 found that over one-third of adults were misclassified by BMI, meaning their assigned weight category didn’t match their actual body fat levels.
A lot of this is because doesn’t measure body fat directly, let alone show where fat is stored, which matters because visceral fat (around organs) carries more risk than fat stored elsewhere (in fact, the fat stored elsewhere can be healthy and even sometimes protective, depending on various factors, see our “related” article below).
The research team compared BMI with DXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), which is a gold-standard method that directly measures body fat percentage and distribution. What they found is that many people labeled overweight or obese by BMI didn’t actually have high body fat, while others with higher fat levels were missed entirely.
Specific findings:
- “Obese” category: 34% were actually here because of body fat, the rest should not have been here
- “Overweight” category: 53% were misclassified, with most actually in the normal range
- “Normal” category: 22% were reclassified up or down when body fat was measured
- “Underweight” category: 68.4% were reclassified up into “normal”
In other words, BMI and body fat methods often flag different people entirely, not just slightly different numbers.
If any other medical standard testing system flagged “different people entirely”, it would be thrown out decades ago!
Read in full: Scientists say BMI gets it wrong for over one third of adults
Related: When BMI Doesn’t Quite Measure Up ← for even more things that are wrong with this system that is wildly unhelpful at best, and often even dangerous
The anti-Alzheimer’s vaccine?
Researchers (Dr. Gabriela Cruz et al.) found that adults aged 65+ who received a high-dose flu vaccine had a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared with those receiving a standard-dose version.
Notably, women enjoyed earlier and stronger reductions in risk, while men got smaller or delayed benefits.
As for the duration of the effect:
- On the one hand, the association lasted up to 25 months in one analysis and 28 months in another, suggesting a medium-term effect rather than a permanent risk reduction
- On the other hand, people who received high-dose vaccines annually over three years showed further reductions in risk, hinting at a cumulative effect.
In other words, get it annually and you’ll be well-covered!
You may be wondering why it works; it’s likely because stronger immune stimulation from high-dose vaccines can reduce brain inflammation or improve immune responses, which are increasingly linked to dementia risk.
This builds on from earlier studies that already linked regular flu vaccination to lower dementia risk—sometimes reporting up to 40% lower incidence.
Read in full: High-dose flu shots inked to lower Alzheimer’s dementia risk in older adults
Related: Could the shingles vaccine lower your risk of dementia?
Take care!
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Green Beans vs Okra – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing green beans to okra, we picked the okra.
Why?
In terms of macros, it’s very close. Technically green beans have very slightly more carbs, fiber, and protein, but the difference is so small that in practical terms this round is a tie, if not the slenderest of wins for green beans.
In the category of vitamins, green beans have more of vitamins A and E, while okra has more of vitamins B2, B3, B5, B7, B9, and K, winning easily. Most of the margins of difference are significant-but-modest, but an outlier is vitamin B9. While a cup of green beans gives 11% of the RDA of vitamin B9, a cup of okra gives 111%, so the difference is literally an order of magnitude.
Looking at macros, green beans have more iron, while okra has more calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc, again winning easily.
In other considerations, okra is high in polyphenols, especially quercetin, and is noted for its antihyperglycemic properties (i.e. it alleviates elevated blood glucose levels).
Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for okra, 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!
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The Worst Halloween Candy For Teeth?
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…and other items from this week in the health science world:
More than a sour taste in your mouth
Everyone knows that sugar is bad for teeth; mostly only know that this is because it feeds harmful bacteria in the mouth, though.
People also know that acid isn’t good for the teeth, either! And after eating sugary foods, your mouth becomes more acidic and starts pulling minerals like calcium and potassium from your teeth.
So, guess what makes it worst of all? Food that’s sugary and acidic! Consequently, sour candies are the absolute worst, since they combine sugar with high acidity from ingredients like citric, malic, tartaric, and fumaric acids. that acidic mix rapidly lowers mouth pH and weakens tooth enamel.
And on a population level, it’s getting worse: sales of sour treats have surged by about 70% over the past decade, driven by viral “sour candy challenges”, and it’s not only kids: around 1 in 8 adults now seek intensely sour sensations too.
Two quick tips in this regard:
- Do not brush your teeth right away! It only spreads the acid and worsens enamel damage. Instead, rinse with water, floss if needed, and wait at least 30 minutes before brushing with your usual toothpaste.
- If (like this writer) you love sour foods: naturally sour foods like pickles, sauerkraut, and kombucha can benefit gut health, and unlike sour candies, they aren’t sugary, and thus are much less harmful to your teeth. You should still drink plenty of water with them though, as a) it rinses the acid b) fermented foods are often a bit high in salt, so hydration keeps things balanced.
Read in full: This common Halloween candy might be the scariest thing you eat
Related: From Apples to Bees, and High-Fructose Cs: Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same?
The blood of long life
Researchers (Dr. Motohiro Sekiya et al.) at the University of Tsukuba have discovered that a molecule found in the blood (known to its friends as CtBP2), appears to act as a master regulator of aging across the body.
How it works: it functions as a metabolic sensor, adjusting to changes in energy balance. When active, it supports healthy metabolism and cellular communication; when it declines, systemic aging accelerates.
This is quite big news, as it means aging is coordinated throughout the body rather than occurring in isolated organs—when CtBP2 activity drops, multiple systems appear to age together. Definitely another argument for tackling our health holistically!
Read in full: A hidden blood molecule may hold the secret to healthy aging and long life
Related: Blood Labs Demystified – by Dr. Ken Berry & Kim Howerton
The witch doctor is in
Fun fact: before the 14th century, women folk healers were accepted as essential community medical providers, but the rise of university-trained male physicians and church power led to their demonization as “witches”.
Ok, maybe that latter part isn’t so fun. And to add insult to injury, this also meant that as women were persecuted from the 14th to mid-18th centuries, a remarkable lot of traditional herbal knowledge was suppressed or outright lost.
Modern researchers are now reassessing the plants once used in “witches’ brews” for their pharmacological value. Many “magical ingredients” are erstwhile common names for certain plants, for example:
- Eye of newt: mustard seed (Sinapis alba)—shown to have anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, and anti-tumour effects.
- Wool of bat: holly leaves—can lower blood fats and cholesterol, though toxic in large doses.
- Tongue of dog: hound’s tongue—historically used for malaria and hepatitis but contains liver-toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
- Adder’s fork: adder’s-tongue fern—used for wound healing and circulation, now also found in cosmetic formulations.
There were also psychoactive phytochemicals that saw use, for example:
- Flying ointments: made from tropane alkaloid plants like deadly nightshade and henbane, absorbed through skin to cause hallucinations and sensations of flight—essentially an early form of transdermal delivery.
- Furthermore, the idea of witches flying with broomsticks between their legs likely came from this, too. Transdermal absorption is strongest places with thin skin and a lot of capillaries, making the armpits and groin amongst the most effective application sites to brush the ointment onto, and the other best sites are places with an accessible mucus membrane, which means bodily orifices. Add these two facts together, and there’s one very obvious most potent application site.
- Sleep potions: included foxglove (source of cardiac glycosides) and Indian snakeroot (source of reserpine, later rediscovered as a blood-pressure drug).
- Love potions: used mandrake, Ephedra sinica, and betel nut, all stimulant or euphoric agents; at higher doses they became poisonous though.
We don’t recommend these!
Read in full: Women folk healers were branded as witches, but their treatments may have been medically sound
Related: Herbs For Evidence-Based Health & Healing
Take care!
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