Not quite an introvert or an extrovert? Maybe you’re an ambivert
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Our personalities are generally thought to consist of five primary factors: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism, with each of us ranking low to high for each.
Those who rank high in extroversion, known as extroverts, typically focus on their external world. They tend to be more optimistic, recharge by socialising and enjoy social interaction.
On the other end of the spectrum, introverts are more likely to be quiet, deep thinkers, who recharge by being alone and learn by observing (but aren’t necessarily shy).
But what if you’re neither an introvert or extrovert – or you’re a bit of both? Another category might fit better: ambiverts. They’re the middle of the spectrum and are also called “social introverts”.
What exactly is an ambivert?
The term ambivert emerged in 1923. While it was not initially embraced as part of the introvert-extrovert spectrum, more recent research suggests ambiverts are a distinct category.
Ambiverts exhibit traits of both extroverts and introverts, adapting their behaviour based on the situation. It may be that they socialise well but need solitude and rest to recharge, and they intuitively know when to do this.
Ambiverts seems to have the following characteristics:
- good communication skills, as a listener and speaker
- ability to be a peacemaker if conflict occurs
- leadership and negotiation skills, especially in teams
- compassion and understanding for others.
Some research suggests ambiverts make up a significant portion of the population, with about two-thirds of people falling into this category.
What makes someone an ambivert?
Personality is thought to be 50% inherited, with the remaining being influenced by environmental factors and individual experiences.
Emerging research has found physical locations of genes on chromosomes closely aligned with extroversion-introversion traits.
So, chances are, if you are a blend of the two styles as an ambivert, one of your parents may be too.
What do ambiverts tend to be good at?
One area of research focus in recent decades has been personality type and job satisfaction. One study examined 340 introverts, extroverts and ambiverts in sales careers.
It has always been thought extroverts were more successful with sales. However, the author found ambiverts were more influential and successful.
They may have a sales advantage because of their ability to read the situation and modify their behaviour if they notice a customer is not interested, as they’re able to reflect and adapt.
Ambiverts stress less than introverts
Generally, people lower in extroversion have higher stress levels. One study found introverts experience more stress than both ambiverts and extroverts.
It may be that highly sensitive or introverted individuals are more susceptible to worry and stress due to being more perfectionistic.
Ambiverts are adept at knowing when to be outgoing and when to be reflective, showcasing a high degree of situational awareness. This may contribute to their overall wellbeing because of how they handle stress.
What do ambiverts tend to struggle with?
Ambiverts may overextend themselves attempting to conform or fit in with many social settings. This is termed “overadaptation” and may force ambiverts to feel uncomfortable and strained, ultimately resulting in stress or burnout.
But personality traits aren’t fixed
Regardless of where you sit on the scale of introversion through to extroversion, the reality is it may not be fixed. Different situations may be more comfortable for introverts to be social, and extroverts may be content with quieter moments.
And there are also four other key personality traits – openness to experience, conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism – which we all possess in varying levels, and are expressed in different ways, alongside our levels of extroversion.
There is also evidence our personality traits can change throughout our life spans are indeed open to change.
Peta Stapleton, Associate Professor in Psychology, Bond University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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HRT: Bioidentical vs Animal
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HRT: A Tale Of Two Approaches
In yesterday’s newsletter, we asked you for your assessment of menopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
- A little over a third said “It can be medically beneficial, but has some minor drawbacks”
- A little under a third said “It helps, but at the cost of increased cancer risk; not worth it”
- Almost as many said “It’s a wondrous cure-all that makes you happier, healthier, and smell nice too”
- Four said “It is a dangerous scam and a sham; “au naturel” is the way to go”
So what does the science say?
Which HRT?
One subscriber who voted for “It’s a wondrous cure-all that makes you healthier, happier, and smell nice too” wrote to add:
❝My answer is based on biodentical hormone replacement therapy. Your survey did not specify.❞
And that’s an important distinction! We did indeed mean bioidentical HRT, because, being completely honest here, this European writer had no idea that Premarin etc were still in such wide circulation in the US.
So to quickly clear up any confusion:
- Bioidentical hormones: these are (as the name suggests) identical on a molecular level to the kind produced by humans.
- Conjugated Equine Estrogens: such as Premarin, come from animals. Indeed, the name “Premarin” comes from “pregnant mare urine”, the substance used to make it.
There are also hormone analogs, such as medroxyprogesterone acetate, which is a progestin and not the same thing as progesterone. Hormone analogs such as the aforementioned MPA are again, a predominantly-American thing—though they did test it first in third-world countries, after testing it on animals and finding it gave them various kinds of cancer (breast, cervical, ovarian, uterine).
A quick jumping-off point if you’re interested in that:
Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate and the risk of breast and gynecologic cancer
this is about its use as a contraceptive (so, much lower doses needed), but it is the same thing sometimes given in the US as part of menopausal HRT. You will note that the date on that research is 1996; DMPA is not exactly cutting-edge and was first widely used in the 1950s.
Similarly, CEEs (like Premarin) have been used since the 1930s, while estradiol (bioidentical estrogen) has been in use since the 1970s.
In short: we recommend being wary of those older kinds and mostly won’t be talking about them here.
Bioidentical hormones are safer: True or False?
True! This is an open-and-shut case:
❝Physiological data and clinical outcomes demonstrate that bioidentical hormones are associated with lower risks, including the risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease, and are more efficacious than their synthetic and animal-derived counterparts.
Until evidence is found to the contrary, bioidentical hormones remain the preferred method of HRT. ❞
Further research since that review has further backed up its findings.
Source: Are Bioidentical Hormones Safer or More Efficacious than Other Commonly Used Versions in HRT?
So simply, if you’re going on HRT (estrogen and/or progesterone), you might want to check it’s the bioidentical kind.
HRT can increase the risk of breast cancer: True or False?
Contingently True, but for most people, there is no significant increase in risk.
First: again, we’re talking bioidentical hormones, and in this case, estradiol. Older animal-derived attempts had much higher risks with much lesser efficaciousness.
There have been so many studies on this (alas, none that have been publicised enough to undo the bad PR in the wake of old-fashioned HRT from before the 70s), but here’s a systematic review that highlights some very important things:
❝Estradiol-only therapy carries no risk for breast cancer, while the breast cancer risk varies according to the type of progestogen.
Estradiol therapy combined with medroxyprogesterone, norethisterone and levonorgestrel related to an increased risk of breast cancer, estradiol therapy combined with dydrogesterone and progesterone carries no risk❞
In fewer words:
- Estradiol by itself: no increased risk of breast cancer
- Estradiol with MDPA or other progestogens that aren’t really progesterone: increased risk of breast cancer
- Estradiol with actual progesterone: back to no increased risk of breast cancer
So again, you might want to make sure you are getting actual bioidentical hormones, and not something else!
However! If you are aware that you already have an increased risk of breast cancer (e.g. family history, you’ve had it before, you know you have certain genes for it, etc), then you should certainly discuss that with your doctor, because your personal circumstances may be different:
❝Tailored HRT may be used without strong evidence of a deleterious effect after ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, most other gynecological cancers, bowel cancer, melanoma, a family history of breast cancer, benign breast disease, in carriers of BRACA mutations, after breast cancer if adjuvant therapy is not being used, past thromboembolism, varicose veins, fibroids and past endometriosis.
Relative contraindications are existing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease and breast cancer being treated with adjuvant therapies❞
Source: HRT in difficult circumstances: are there any absolute contraindications?
HRT makes you happier, healthier, and smell nice too: True or False?
Contingently True, assuming you do want its effects, which generally means the restoration of much of the youthful vitality you enjoyed pre-menopause.
The “and smell nice too” was partly rhetorical, but also partly literal: our scent is largely informed by our hormones, and higher estrogen results in a sweeter scent; lower estrogen results in a more bitter scent. Not generally considered an important health matter, but it’s a thing, so hey.
More often, people take menopausal HRT for more energy, stronger bones (reduced osteoporosis risk), healthier heart (reduced CVD risk), improved sexual health, better mood, healthier skin and hair, and general avoidance of menopause symptoms:
Read more: Skin, hair and beyond: the impact of menopause
We’d need another whole main feature to discuss all the benefits properly; today we’re just mythbusting.
HRT does have some drawbacks: True or False?
True, and/but how serious they are (beyond the aforementioned consideration in the case of an already-increased risk of breast cancer) is a matter of opinion.
For example, it is common to get a reprise of monthly cramps and/or mood swings, depending on how one is taking the HRT and other factors (e.g. your own personal physiology and genetic predispositions). For most people, these will even out over time.
It’s also even common to get a reprise of (much slighter than before) monthly bleeding, unless you have for example had a hysterectomy (no uterus = no bleeding). Again, this will usually settle down in a matter of months.
If you experience anything more alarming than that, then indeed check with your doctor.
HRT is a dangerous scam and sham: True or False?
False, simply. As described above, for most people they’re quite safe. Again, talking bioidentical hormones.
The other kind are in the most neutral sense a sham (i.e. they are literally sham hormones), though they’re not without their merits and for many people they may be better than nothing.
As for being a scam, biodentical hormones are widely prescribed in the many countries that have universal healthcare and/or a single-payer healthcare system, where there would be no profit motive (and considerable cost) in doing so.
They’re prescribed because they are effective and thus reduce healthcare spending in other areas (such as treating osteoporosis or CVD after the fact) and improve Health Related Quality of Life, and by extension, health-adjusted life-years, which is one of the top-used metrics for such systems.
See for example:
Our apologies, gentlemen
We wanted to also talk about testosterone therapy for the andropause, but we’ve run out of room today (because of covering the important distinction of bioidentical vs old-fashioned HRT)!
To make it up to you, we’ll do a full main feature on it (it’s an interesting topic) in the near future, so watch this space
Ladies, we’ll also at some point cover the pros and cons of different means of administration, e.g. pills, transdermal gel, injections, patches, pessaries, etc—which often have big differences.
That’ll be in a while though, because we try to vary our topics, so we can’t talk about menopausal HRT all the time, fascinating and important a topic it is.
Meanwhile… take care, all!
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Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen
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Give Us This Day Our Daily Dozen
This is Dr. Michael Greger. He’s a physician-turned-author-educator, and we’ve featured him and his work occasionally over the past year or so:
- Brain Food? The Eyes Have It! ← this is about dark leafy greens, lutein, & avoiding Alzheimer’s
- Twenty-One, No Wait, Twenty Tweaks For Better Health ← he says 21, but we say one of them is very skippable. Check it out and decide what you think!
- Dr. Greger’s Anti-Aging Eight ← his top well-evidenced interventions specifically for slowing aging
But what we’ve not covered, astonishingly, is one of the things for which he’s most famous, which is…
Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen
Based on the research in the very information-dense tome that his his magnum opus How Not To Die (while it doesn’t confer immortality, it does help avoid the most common causes of death), Dr. Greger recommends that we take care to enjoy each of the following things per day:
Beans
- Servings: 3 per day
- Examples: ½ cup cooked beans, ¼ cup hummus
Greens
- Servings: 2 per day
- Examples: 1 cup raw, ½ cup cooked
Cruciferous vegetables
- Servings: 1 per day
- Examples: ½ cup chopped, 1 tablespoon horseradish
Other vegetables
- Servings: 2 per day
- Examples: ½ cup non-leafy vegetables
Whole grains
- Servings: 3 per day
- Examples: ½ cup hot cereal, 1 slice of bread
Berries
- Servings: 1 per day
- Examples: ½ cup fresh or frozen, ¼ cup dried
Other fruits
- Servings: 3 per day
- Examples: 1 medium fruit, ¼ cup dried fruit
Flaxseed
- Servings: 1 per day
- Examples: 1 tablespoon ground
Nuts & (other) seeds
- Servings: 1 per day
- Examples: ¼ cup nuts, 2 tablespoons nut butter
Herbs & spices
- Servings: 1 per day
- Examples: ¼ teaspoon turmeric
Hydrating drinks
- Servings: 60 oz per day
- Examples: Water, green tea, hibiscus tea
Exercise
- Servings: Once per day
- Examples: 90 minutes moderate or 40 minutes vigorous
Superficially it seems an interesting choice to, after listing 11 foods and drinks, have the 12th item as exercise but not add a 13th one of sleep—but perhaps he quite reasonably expects that people get a dose of sleep with more consistency than people get a dose of exercise. After all, exercise is mostly optional, whereas if we try to skip sleep for too long, our body will force the matter for us.
Further 10almonds notes:
- We’d consider chia superior to flax, but you do you. Flax is a fine choice also.
- We recommend trying to get each of these top 5 most health-giving spices in daily if you can.
Enjoy!
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Moringa Oleifera Against CVD, Diabetes, Alzheimer’s & Arsenic?
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The Healthiest Drumstick
Moringa oleifera is a tree, whose leaves and pods have medicinal properties (as well as simply being very high in nutrients). It’s also called the drumstick tree in English, but equally often it’s referred to simply as Moringa. It has enjoyed use in traditional medicine for thousands of years, and its many benefits have caught scientists’ attention more recently. For an overview before we begin, see:
Now, let’s break it down…
Anti-inflammatory
It is full of antioxidants, which we’ll come to shortly, and they have abundant anti-inflammatory effects. Research into these so far has mostly beennon-human animal studies or else in vitro, hence the guarded “potential” for now:
Potential anti-inflammatory phenolic glycosides from the medicinal plant Moringa oleifera fruits
Speaking of potential though, it has been found to also reduce neuroinflammation specifically, which is good, because not every anti-inflammatory agent does that:
Antioxidant
It was hard to find studies that talked about its antioxidant powers that didn’t also add “and this, and this, and this” because of all its knock-on benefits, for example:
❝The results indicate that this plant possesses antioxidant, hypolipidaemic and antiatherosclerotic activities and has therapeutic potential for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
These effects were at degrees comparable to those of simvastatin.❞
~ Dr. Pilaipark Chumark et al.
Likely a lot of its benefits in these regards come from the plant’s very high quercetin content, because quercetin does that too:
Quercetin reduces blood pressure in hypertensive subjects
For more about quercetin, you might like our previous main feature:
Fight Inflammation & Protect Your Brain, With Quercetin
Antidiabetic
It also has been found to lower fasting blood sugar levels by 13.5%:
Anti-arsenic?
We put a question mark there, because studies into this have only been done with non-human animals such as mice and rats so far, largely because there are not many human volunteers willing to sign up for arsenic poisoning (and no ethics board would pass it anyway).
However, as arsenic contamination in some foods (such as rice) is a big concern, this is very promising. Here are some example studies, with mice and rats respectively:
- Protective effects of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaves against arsenic-induced toxicity in mice
- Therapeutic effects of Moringa oleifera on arsenic-induced toxicity in rats
Is it safe?
A popular food product through parts of Africa and (especially) South & West Asia, it has a very good safety profile. Generally the only health-related criticism of it is that it contains some anti-nutrients (that hinder bioavailability of its nutrients), but the nutrients outweigh the antinutrients sufficiently to render this a trifling trivium.
In short: as ever, do check with your doctor/pharmacist to be sure, but in general terms, this is about as safe as most vegan whole foods; it just happens to also be something of a superfood, which puts it into the “nutraceutical” category. See also:
Review of the Safety and Efficacy of Moringa oleifera
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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How To Heal And Regrow Receding Gums
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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
❝Hey Sheila – As always, your articles are superb !! So, I have a topic that I’d love you guys to discuss: green tea. I used to try + drink it years ago but I always got an allergic reaction to it. So the question I’d like answered is: Will I still get the same allergic reaction if I take the capsules ? Also, because it’s caffeinated, will taking it interfere with iron pills, other vitamins + meds ? I read that the health benefits of the decaffeinated tea/capsules are not as great as the caffeinated. Any info would be greatly appreciated !! Thanks much !!❞
Hi! I’m not Sheila, but I’ll answer this one in the first person as I’ve had a similar issue:
I found long ago that taking any kind of tea (not herbal infusions, but true teas, e.g. green tea, black tea, red tea, etc) on an empty stomach made me want to throw up. The feeling would subside within about half an hour, but I learned it was far better to circumvent it by just not taking tea on an empty stomach.
However! I take an l-theanine supplement when I wake up, to complement my morning coffee, and have never had a problem with that. Of course, my physiology is not your physiology, and this “shouldn’t” be happening to either of us in the first place, so it’s not something there’s a lot of scientific literature about, and we just have to figure out what works for us.
This last Monday I wrote (inspired in part by your query) about l-theanine supplementation, and how it doesn’t require caffeine to unlock its benefits after all, by the way. So that’s that part in order.
I can’t speak for interactions with your other supplements or medications without knowing what they are, but I’m not aware of any known issue, beyond that l-theanine will tend to give a gentler curve to the expression of some neurotransmitters. So, if for example you’re talking anything that affects that (e.g. antidepressants, antipsychotics, ADHD meds, sleepy/wakefulness meds, etc) then checking with your doctor is best.
❝Can you do something on collagen and keep use posted on pineapple, and yes love and look forward to each issue❞
Glad you’re enjoying! We did write a main feature on collagen a little while back! Here it is:
We Are Such Stuff As Fish Are Made Of
As for pineapple, there’s not a lot to keep you posted about! Pineapple’s protein-digesting, DNA-unzipping action is well-established and considered harmless (if your mouth feels weird when you eat pineapple or drink pineapple juice, this is why, by the way) because no meaningful damage was done.
For example:
- Pineapple’s bromelain action is akin to taking apart a little lego model brick by brick (easy to fix)
- Clastogenic genotoxicity is more like taking a blowtorch to the lego model (less easy to fix)
Fun fact: pineapple is good against inflammation, because of the very same enzyme!
❝I never knew anything about the l- tea. Where can I purchase it?❞
You can get it online quite easily! Here’s an example on Amazon
❝The 3 most important exercises don’t work if you can’t get on the floor. I’m 78, and have knee replacements. What about 3 best chair yoga stretches? Love your articles!❞
Here are six!
We turn the tables and ask you a question!
We’ll then talk about this tomorrow:
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Cannellini Protein Gratin
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A healthier twist on a classic, the protein here comes not only from the cannellini beans, but also from (at the risk of alienating French readers) a béchamel sauce that is not made using the traditional method involving flour and butter, but instead, has cashew protein as a major constituent.
You will need
- 3 medium potatoes, chopped (no need to peel them; you can if you want, but many of the nutrients are there and they’re not a problem for the recipe)
- 1 can cannellini beans (also called white kidney beans)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 1 carrot, chopped
- ½ bulb garlic, minced (or more, if you like)
- 1 jalapeño, chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tsp black pepper, coarse ground
- Extra virgin olive oil, for frying
For the béchamel sauce:
- ½ cup milk (we recommend a neutral-tasting plant milk, such as unsweetened soy, but go with your preference)
- ⅓ cup cashews, soaked in hot water for at least 5 minutes (longer is fine) and drained
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
Note: it will be a bonus if you can use a pan that is good both for going on the hob and in the oven, such as a deep cast iron skillet, or a Dutch oven. If you don’t have something like that though, it’s fine, just use a sauté pan or similar, and then transfer to an oven dish for the oven part—we’ll mention this again when we get to it.
1) Preheat the oven to 250℉/175℃.
2) Heat the pan, adding some oil and then the oven; fry it for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
3) Add the potatoes, celery, carrot, garlic, and jalapeño, stirring for another 2 minutes.
4) Add the tomato paste, along with 1 cup water, the chia seeds, and the black pepper, and cook for a further 15 minutes, stirring occasionally as necessary.
5) Add the cannellini beans, and cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally as necessary.
6) Blend all the ingredients for the béchamel sauce, processing it until it is smooth.
7) If you are using an oven-safe pan, pour the béchamel sauce over the bean mixture (don’t stir it; the sauce should remain on top) and transfer it to the oven. Don’t use a lid.
If you’re not using an oven safe pan, first transfer the bean mixture to an oven dish, then pour the béchamel sauce over the bean mixture (don’t stir it; the sauce should remain on top) and put it in the oven. Don’t use a lid.
8) Bake for about 15 minutes, or until turning golden-brown on top.
9) Serve! It can be enjoyed on its own, or with salad and/or rice. See also, our Tasty Versatile Rice Recipe.
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:
- What Matters Most For Your Heart?
- The Many Health Benefits Of Garlic
- Easily Digestible Vegetarian Protein Sources
- Is Dairy Scary?
- Cashew Nuts vs Coconut – Which is Healthier?
- Black Pepper’s Impressive Anti-Cancer Arsenal (And More)
Take care!
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Solitary Fitness – by Charles Bronson
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Sometimes it can seem that every new diet and/or exercise regime you want to try will change your life, if just you first max out your credit card on restocking your kitchen and refurbishing your home gym, not to mention buying all the best supplements, enjoying the latest medical gadgets, and so on and so forth.
And often… Most of those things genuinely are good! And it’s great that such things are becoming more accessible and available.
But… Wouldn’t it be nice to know how to have excellent strength and fitness without any of that, even if just as a “bare bones” protocol to fall back on? That’s what Manson provides in this book.
The writing style is casual and friendly; Manson is not exactly an academic, but he knows his stuff when it comes to what works. And a good general rule of thumb is: if it’s something that he can do in his jail cell, we can surely do it in the comfort of our homes.
Bottom line: if you want functional strength and fitness with zero gimmicks, this is the book for you (as an aside, it’s also simply an interesting and recommendable read, sociologically speaking, but that’s another matter entirely).
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Learn to Age Gracefully
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