Low-Dose Aspirin & Anemia
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We recently wrote about…
How To Survive A Heart Attack When You’re Alone
…and one of the items was “if you have aspirin readily available, then after calling an ambulance is the time to take it—but don’t exert yourself trying to find some”.
But what of aspirin as a preventative?
Many people take low-dose aspirin daily as a way to reduce the risk of atherothrombosis specifically (and thus, indirectly, they hope to reduce the risk of heart attacks).
The science of how helpful this is both clear and complicated—that is to say, the stats are not ambiguous*, but there are complicating factors of which many people are unaware.
*it will reduce the overall risk of cardiovascular events, but will not affect CVD mortality; in other words, it may improve your recovery from minor cardiac events, but is not likely to save you from major ones.
And also, it has unwanted side effects that can constitute a more relevant threat for many people. We’ll share more on that at the end of today’s article, but first…
A newly identified threat from daily aspirin use
A large (n=313,508) study of older adults (median age 73) were sorted into those who used low-dose aspirin as a preventative, and those who did not.
The primary outcome was incidence of anemia sufficient to require treatment, and the secondary outcome was major bleeding. And, at least 1 in 5 of those who experienced anemia also experienced bleeding.
The bleeding issue was not “newly identified” and will not surprise many people; after all, the very reason that aspirin is taken as a CVD preventative is for its anti-clotting property of allowing blood to flow more freely.
The anemia, however, has been getting increasing scientific scrutiny lately, after long going unnoticed in the wild. Given that anemia also gives the symptom “dizziness”, this is also a significant threat for increasing the incidence of falls in the older population, too, which can of course lead to serious complications and ultimately death.
Here’s the paper itself:
Want to know more?
As promised, here’s what we wrote previously about some of aspirin’s other risks:
Aspirin, CVD Risk, & Potential Counter-Risks
Take care!
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The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners – by Jessica Aledo
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There are a lot of Mediterranean Diet books on the market, and not all of them actually stick to the Mediterranean Diet. There’s a common mistake of thinking “Well, this dish is from the Mediterranean region, so…”, but that doesn’t make, for example, bacon-laden carbonara part of the Mediterranean Diet!
Jessica Aledo does better, and sticks unwaveringly to the Mediterranean Diet principles.
First, she gives a broad introduction, covering:
- The Mediterranean Diet pyramid
- Foods to eat on the Mediterranean Diet
- Foods to avoid on the Mediterranean Diet
- Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet
Then, it’s straight into the recipes, of which there are 201 (as with many recipe books, the title is a little misleading about this).
They’re divided into sections, thus:
- Breakfasts
- Lunches
- Snacks
- Dinners
- Desserts
The recipes are clear and simple, one per double-page, with high quality color illustrations. They give ingredients/directions/nutrients. There’s no padding!
Helpfully, she does include a shopping list as an appendix, which is really useful!
Bottom line: if you’re looking to build your Mediterranean Diet repertoire, this book is an excellent choice.
Get your copy of The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners from Amazon today!
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Activate Your Brain – by Scott G. Halford
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We’ve reviewed a number of “improve your brain health” books over time, and this one’s quite different. How?
Most of the books we’ve reviewed have been focused on optimizing diet and exercise for brain health with a nod to other factors… This one focuses more on those other factors.
While this book does reference a fair bit of hard science, much of it is written more like a pop psychology book. As a result, most of the actionable advices, of which there are many, pertain to cognitive and behavioral adjustments.
And no, this is not a book of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It just happened to also address those two aspects.
We learn, for example, how our neurochemistry influences us—but also how we can influence our neurochemistry.
We also learn the oft-neglected (in other books!) social factors that influence brain health. Not just for our happiness, but for our productivity and peak cognitive performance too. Halford talks us through optimizing these such that we and those around us all get to enjoy the best brain benefits available to each of us.
The format of the book is that each chapter explains what you need to know for a given “activation” as the author calls it, and then an exercise to try out. With fifteen such chapters, every reader is bound to find at least something new.
Bottom line: if you want to grease those synapses in more ways than just eating some nuts and berries and getting good sleep and exercise, this book is a great resource.
Click here to check out “Activate Your Brain” and find your next level of cognitive performance!
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Nutrition To Combat Lymphedema & Lipedema
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Dr. Kelly Sturm is a rehab specialist (Doctor of Physical Therapy), and also a certified lymphedema therapist. Here’s what helps her patients with lymphedema and lipedema:
Don’t fan the flames
Lymphedema and lipedema are inflammatory lymphatic diseases affecting mostly women. As such, an anti-inflammatory diet will be important, but there are other factors too:
- Anti-inflammatory diet: this is to reduce the chronic inflammation associated with lymphatic diseases. This means eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, especially berries and leafy greens, and avoiding things like sugar, alcohol, caffeine, and processed foods. And of course, don’t smoke.
- Intermittent fasting: this also helps by giving the body a chance to correct itself; when the body isn’t digesting food, it has a lot more resources to devote to its favorite activity: maintenance. This results in lower inflammation, and better fat redistribution.
- Weight loss: not a bandwagon we often get on at 10almonds as it’s rarely the most important thing, but in this case it is of high importance (second only to dealing with the inflammation), as excess weight around the lymph nodes and vessels can lead to dysfunction and swelling. Thus, reducing the weight can ease that and allow the body to heal.
For more details on all of the above, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
- Eat To Beat Inflammation ← also some non-dietary advice in there too
- Ask Not What Your Lymphatic System Can Do For You…
- Lose Weight, But Healthily ← more useful than just trying to run a calorie deficit
Take care!
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Healthy Made Simple – by Ella Mills
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Often, cookbooks leave a gap between “add the beans to the rice, then microwave” and “delicately embarrass the green-shooted scallions with assiduous garlic before adding to the matelote of orrazata flamed in Sapient Pear Brandy”. This book fills that gap:
It has dishes good for entertaining, and dishes good for eating on a Tuesday night after a long day. Sometimes, they’re even the same dishes.
It has a focus on what’s pleasing, easy, healthy, and consistent with being cooked in a real home kitchen for real people.
The book offers 75 recipes that:
- Take under 30 minutes to make*
- Contain 10 ingredients or fewer
- Have no more than 5 steps
- Are healthy and packed with goodness
- Are delicious and flavorful
*With a selection for under 15 minutes, too!
A strength of the book is that it’s based on practical, real-world cooking, and as such, there are sections such as “Prep-ahead [meals]”, and “cook once, eat twice”, etc.
Just because one is cooking with simple fresh ingredients doesn’t mean that everything bought today must be used today!
Bottom line: if you’d like simple, healthy recipe ideas that lend themselves well to home-cooking and prepping ahead / enjoying leftovers the next day, this is an excellent book for you.
Click here to check out Healthy Made Simple, enjoy the benefits to your health, the easy way!
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Kettlebell Sport & Fitness Basics – by Audrey Burgio
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Professional athlete & coach Audrey Burgio covers how to get a full-body workout that will make you stronger and more flexible (there are stretches here too, and many exercises are about strength and suppleness), as well as building stability and balance. In short, more robust and with better mobility.
Which is one of the best things about kettlebell training—unlike dumbbells and barbells, a kettlebell requires the kind of strength that one has to use when doing many routine tasks, from carrying the groceries to moving a big pan in the kitchen.
Because it is otherwise absolutely possible to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the gym, and then still pull a muscle moving something at home because the angle was awkward or somesuch!
However, making one’s body so robust does require training safely, and the clear instructions in this book will help the reader avoid injuries that might otherwise be incurred by just picking up some kettlebells and guessing.
Bottom line: if you’d like to get strong and supple from the comfort of your own home, this book can definitely lead the way!
Click here to check out Kettlebell Sport & Fitness Basics, and see the difference in your body!
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The Good Life – by Robert Waldinger, MD, and Marc Schulz, PhD
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For any who have thought “there must be some middle-ground between entirely subjective self-help books advising how to feel better, and sifting through clinical data on what actually affects people’s moods“, this book is exactly that middle-ground!
Drs. Waldinger and Schultz went through the 80-year-long Harvard Study of Adult Development with a fine-toothed comb, and this book details—more readably—what they found.
There are frequent references to data from the study. Not just numbers, though, people’s answers to questions, too. And how different factors about people’s lives affected their answers to the same questions.
We hear from all ages, from young adults to octagenarians, and learn how attitudes (including: of the same people) change over time. Not because people are fickle, but because people grow… or become disillusioned. Or sometimes, both.
We learn about the importance of money… And where that importance ends.
We learn importance of relationships of various kinds, and this is certainly a recurring theme throughout the study—and thus, throughout the book.
The book doesn’t just present data, though, it also presents actionable insights along the way.
Bottom line: the combined wisdom and life-experiences of a lot of people provide a very “big picture” view of life, and what makes us happy, really. We highly recommend it!
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