One More Reason To Prioritize Sleep To Fight Cognitive Decline
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We’ve talked sometimes at 10almonds about how important sleep is for many aspects of health, including for brain health, and including in later life.
There’s a common myth that older people require less sleep; the reality is that sleeping less and not dying of it does not equate to needing less.
See also: Sleep: Yes, You Really Do Still Need It!
And: How Sleep-Deprived Are You, Really?
Quantity is not everything though; quality absolutely matters too. We’ve written about that here:
The 6 Dimensions Of Sleep (And Why They Matter) ← duration is just one dimension out of the six
We’ve even gone into some more obscure, but still very important things, such as: How Your Sleep Position Changes Dementia Risk
We’ve also talked about the role of sleep in memory (and forgetting): How Your Brain Chooses What To Remember
With that in mind…
Some more recent science
This study was about spatial memory, but what’s important (in our opinion) is that it’s about solidifying recent learning.
Researchers measured brain activity in rats for up to 20 hours of sleep following spatial learning tasks. Initially, the neuronal patterns observed during sleep mirrored those from the learning phase. However, as sleep progressed, these patterns transformed to resemble the activity seen when the rats later recalled the locations of food rewards. Interestingly, this reorganization happened during non-REM sleep, which means it wasn’t just a case of “the rats were dreaming about their day” (which is a well-established way in which memories do get encoded), but rather, the newly-learned experiences were being actively encoded in the rest of sleep.
This is critical, because in age-related cognitive decline, it’s very common for very long-term memory (VLTM) to remain intact, while LTM and short-term memory (STM) crumble. For example, someone may remember many details of their life from 20 years ago, but forget where they currently live, or what happened in the conversation two minutes ago.
In other words, the biggest problem is not the storage of memories, but rather the encoding of them in the first place.
Which sleep facilitates!
And it’s also important to note that part about it being the rest of sleep, because when the brain is sleep-deprived, it’ll tend to prioritize REM sleep, which is important, but that means cutting back on other phases of sleep, and from this study, we can see that memory & learning will be amongst the things adversely affected by such cuts.
Here’s the paper, for those interested:
Sleep stages antagonistically modulate reactivation drift
And for those who prefer lighter reading, here’s a pop-science article about the same study, which explains it in more words than we can here:
But wait, there’s more!
Sleep resets neurons for new memories the next day, study finds
So, once again… It is absolutely critical to prioritize good sleep.
Want to know more?
Check out:
Calculate (And Enjoy) The Perfect Night’s Sleep
Take care!
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In Praise Of Walking – by Dr. Shane O’Mara
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At 10almonds we talk often of the health benefits of walking, so what’s new here?
As the subtitle suggests: a new scientific exploration!
Dr. Shane O’Mara is a professor of experimental brain research—and a keen walker. Combining his profession and his passion, he offers us a uniquely well-grounded perspective.
While the writing style is very readable, there’s a lot of science referenced here, with many studies cited. We love that!
We begin our journey by learning what we have in common with sea squirts, and what we have different from all other apes. What we can learn from other humans, from toddlers to supercentenarians.
As one might expect from a professor of experimental brain research, we learn a lot more about what walking does for our brain, than for the rest of our body. We’ve previously talked about walking and cardiovascular health, and brown adipose tissue, and benefits to the immune system, but this book remains steadfastly focused on the brain.
Which just goes to show, what a lot there is to say for the science-based benefits to our brain health, both neurologically and psychologically!
One of the things at which Dr. O’Mara excels that this reviewer hasn’t seen someone do so well before, is neatly tie together the appropriate “why” and “how” to each “what” of the brain-benefits of walking. Not just that walking boosts mood or creativity or problem-solving, say, but why and how it does so.
Often, understanding that can be the difference between being motivated to actually do it or not!
Bottom line: if there’s a book that’ll get you lacing up your walking shoes, this’ll be the one.
Click here to check out “In Praise of Walking” on Amazon, and start reaping the benefits!
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A Very Cheap Way To Slow Biological Aging
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“Multivitamins and minerals are good for longevity” is an interesting one as a topic, because:
- On the one hand, that is already popularly assumed
- On the other hand, multivitamins and minerals are equally popularly much-derided as a waste of money
And indeed, they have their limitations, and yes, it’s still better to get everything from one’s diet.
Warning: do not, however, fall into the trap that many do, and think “I don’t need to take supplements because it’s better to get it from my diet” and then not, in fact, get a full coverage from your diet
So, for whatever reason you might choose to take a multivitamin and mineral, let’s take a look at…
Cause and effect
Researchers (Dr. Sidong Li et al.) found that taking a daily multivitamin for two years slowed biological aging by the equivalent of about four months.
So, that’s basically as if every time you went forwards 6 years, you went back 1 year.
Compared to what, you ask?
Good question, because if it’s “compared to not taking it”, and if it’s an observational study, then there can be all kinds of confounding factors, most of them rooted in the theme “people who do thing 1 for their health are more likely to also do things 2, 3, 4, and 5 for their health”.
The answer, happily, is: “compared to placebo”. It was a randomized controlled trial.
Next up, some may be wondering what “biological age” is. In fact, biological age is not one thing but quite a lot of things, each of which can age at different rates.
See for example: Age & Aging: What Can (And Can’t) We Do About It?
One of the best ways to try to boil it down to a composite figure, however, is to look at epigenetic clocks.
First let’s quickly cover the question of: what does “epigenetic” mean? In few words and put simply, epigenetics is the study of “around genetics”, i.e. the things that are not the genes themselves, but modulate how (and indeed, whether or not) genes are expressed.
In this case, Dr. Li and her team used epigenetic clocks that estimate biological age based on patterns of DNA methylation, which influence gene expression and naturally change with age. The quicker the progression of the clock, the faster the aging.
The analysis included DNA methylation data from blood samples of 958 healthy participants with an average chronological age of 70 who were randomized to receive combinations of cocoa extract, multivitamins & minerals, or placebo.
- Good news: participants taking a multivitamin enjoyed slowing across all five epigenetic aging clocks tested, with strongest effects in the two clocks most strongly linked to mortality risk.
- Bad news: the cocoa extract supplement was a bit of a flop. Didn’t help. Or rather, it had no effect whatsoever on the 5 epigenetic clocks tested.
The reason why she tested cocoa extract for this, is because of: Cocoa vs Biological Aging!
…in which Dr. Li (yes, the same Dr. Li) and her team (mostly the same team, but not entirely the same) found that daily cocoa extract reduced hsCRP (a key inflammation marker tied to heart disease) by about 8.4% per year compared with placebo, suggesting anti-inflammatory and cardio-protective effects, and also noted that this cocoa extract supplementation reduced cardiovascular mortality by 27%.
Which is relevant, because epigenetic clocks and inflammatory markers are two out of three of: The 3 Best Predictors Of How Well You’ll Age
If you’d like to read Dr. Li’s latest work, you can find it here: Effects of daily multivitamin–multimineral and cocoa extract supplementation on epigenetic aging clocks in the COSMOS randomized clinical trial ← published literally today, at time of writing this article. Never let it be said we don’t bring you cutting edge health science news!
Want to learn more?
You might like this book we reviewed a while back
Eat Your Vitamins – by Mascha Davis, RDN ← This book methodically discusses an assortment of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients; the “other nutrients” category including amino acids (branched chain and essential), prebiotics and probiotics, and triglycerides of various kinds.
Enjoy!
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The Joy Of Missing Out
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What this is not going to be: a sour grapes thing.
What this is going to be: an exploration of how the grass is greener
on the other side of the fencewherever you water itIt’s easy to feel lonely and isolated, even in today’s increasingly-connected world. We’ve tackled that topic before:
How To Beat Loneliness & Isolation
One of the more passive (but still reasonable) ways of reducing isolation is to simply say “yes” more, which we discussed (along with other more active strategies) here:
When The World Moves Without Us… Can We Side-Step Age-Related Alienation?
But, is there any benefit to be gained from not being in the thick of things?
Sometimes some things associated with isolation are not, in reality, necessarily isolating. See for example:
But, the implications of embracing the “joy of missing out” are much more wide-reaching:
Wherever you are, there you are
You’ve probably read before the phrase “wherever you go, there you are”, but this phrasing brings attention to the fact that you already are where you are.
There are quite possibly aspects of your current life/situation that are not ideal, but take a moment to appreciate where you are in life. At the very least, you are probably in a safe warm dry house with plenty of food available; chances are you have plenty of luxuries too.
See also: How To Get Your Brain On A More Positive Track (Without Toxic Positivity)
And yet, it’s easy to have a fear of missing out. Even billionaires fear they do not have enough and must acquire more in order to be truly secure and fulfilled.
As it goes for material wealth, so it also goes for social wealth—in other words, we may worry about such questions as: on whom can we rely, and who will be there for us if we need them? Do we, ultimately, have enough social capital to be secure?
- For social media influencers, it’ll be follower counts and engagement.
- For the family-oriented, it might be the question of whose house a given holiday gets celebrated at, and who attends, and who does it best.
- In more somber matters, think about funerals, and those where “there was such a huge turnout” vs “almost nobody attended”.
It sure sounds a lot like a dog-eat-dog world in which missing out sucks! But it doesn’t have to.
So let’s recap: your current situation is probably, all things considered, not bad. There is probably much in life to enjoy. If people do not come to your holiday event, then those are not people who would have improved things for you. If people do not attend your funeral even, then well, you yourself will be late, so hey.
Right now though, you are alive, so…
Enjoy the moment; enjoy your life for you.
Invest in yourself. Better yourself. Improve your environment for yourself little by little.
We spend a lot of time in life living up to everyone’s expectations, often without stopping to question whether it is what we want, or sometimes putting aside what we want in favor of what is wanted of us.
- Sometimes, such ostensible altruism is laudable and good (the point of today’s article is not “be a selfish jerk”; sometimes we should indeed shelve our self-interest in favour of doing something for the common good)
- Sometimes, it’s just pointless sacrifice that benefits nobody (the point of today’s article is “there is no point in playing stressful, stacked games when you could have a better time not doing that”)
If you are about to embark on an endeavor that you don’t really want to, take a moment to seriously consider which of the above two situations this is, and then act accordingly.
For a deeper dive into that, you might like this book that we reviewed a while back:
The Joy of Saying No – by Natalie Lue
Enjoy!
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Foods For Managing Hypothyroidism (incl. Hashimoto’s)
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Foods for Managing Hypothyroidism
For any unfamiliar, hypothyroidism is the condition of having an underactive thyroid gland. The thyroid gland lives at the base of the front of your neck, and, as the name suggests, it makes and stores thyroid hormones. Those are important for many systems in the body, and a shortage typically causes fatigue, weight gain, and other symptoms.
What causes it?
This makes a difference in some cases to how it can be treated/managed. Causes include:
- Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune condition
- Severe inflammation (end result is similar to the above, but more treatable)
- Dietary deficiencies, especially iodine deficiency
- Secondary endocrine issues, e.g. pituitary gland didn’t make enough TSH for the thyroid gland to do its thing
- Some medications (ask your pharmacist)
We can’t do a lot about those last two by leveraging diet alone, but we can make a big difference to the others.
What to eat (and what to avoid)
There is nuance here, which we’ll go into a bit, but let’s start by giving the
one-linetwo-line summary that tends to be the dietary advice for most things:- Eat a nutrient-dense whole-foods diet (shocking, we know)
- Avoid sugar, alcohol, flour, processed foods (ditto)
What’s the deal with meat and dairy?
- Meat: avoid red and processed meats; poultry and fish are fine or even good (unless fried; don’t do that)
- Dairy: limit/avoid milk; but unsweetened yogurt and cheese are fine or even good
What’s the deal with plants?
First, get plenty of fiber, because that’s important to ease almost any inflammation-related condition, and for general good health for most people (an exception is if you have Crohn’s Disease, for example).
If you have Hashimoto’s, then gluten (as found in wheat, barley, and rye) may be an issue, but the jury is still out, science-wise. Here’s an example study for “avoid gluten” and “don’t worry about gluten”, respectively:
- The Effect of Gluten-Free Diet on Thyroid Autoimmunity in Women with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
- Doubtful Justification of the Gluten-Free Diet in the Course of Hashimoto’s Disease
So, you might want to skip it, to be on the safe side, but that’s up to you (and the advice of your nutritionist/doctor, as applicable).
A word on goitrogens…
Goitrogens are found in cruciferous vegetables and soy, both of which are very healthy foods for most people, but need some extra awareness in the case of hypothyroidism. This means there’s no need to abstain completely, but:
- Keep serving sizes small, for example a 100g serving only
- Cook goitrogenic foods before eating them, to greatly reduce goitrogenic activity
For more details, reading even just the abstract (intro summary) of this paper will help you get healthy cruciferous veg content without having a goitrogenic effect.
(as for soy, consider just skipping that if you suffer from hypothyroidism)
What nutrients to focus on getting?
- Top tier nutrients: iodine, selenium, zinc
- Also important: vitamin B12, vitamin D, magnesium, iron
Enjoy!
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How To Make Downhill Walking Easier On The Knees
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Dr. Alyssa Kuhn, arthritis specialist, gives the low-down:
Easier now, easier later
Many people struggle with downhill walking due to lack of control or knee pain. This happens because muscles also act as brakes, and weak muscles shift the stress to joints. So, the fix will be strengthening those muscles. But first:
Quick tip for the “easier now”: use a zigzag walking pattern when descending; not only does this make the incline (or relatively speaking: decline) functionally less steep, but also, the stress is now at a different angle to your joint, which takes pressure off it too.
Now for some exercises, for the “easier later”:
- Seated leg extensions with resistance band: sit at the edge of a chair and use a loop or long resistance band around your shins; kick one leg out straight, then slowly return it—variations include using thicker cotton bands to avoid rolling, anchoring the band under a chair leg, or crossing a long band for added resistance—aim for 10–15 slow, controlled repetitions per leg, adjusting reps per ability.
- Slow chair squats: with your feet shoulder-width apart and without touching the back of the chair, slowly sit down over a count of 3 and then stand back up—keep knees aligned with ankles to avoid inner knee pain and improper muscle use—this builds essential downhill control strength; begin with 5–10 reps and increase as it becomes easier.
- Step-down lunges: place one foot on a step stool or low stair, extend your rear leg behind you with both knees bent, and lower your body slowly (counting to 3) before pushing back up—this mimics the single-leg control needed for descending; using a raised surface helps keep the knee behind the toes to avoid pain—aim for 10–12 controlled reps per side before progressing to floor lunges.
Limitation: if you have a connective tissue disorder such as some kind of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (there are many kinds; it’s an umbrella term), there’s a good chance that no matter how much you strengthen your legs, your associated nerves aren’t going to believe it, so every now and again your legs will still fold like laundry no matter how strong they are, in an effort to save you from what they mistake for a breaking-point level of physical stress. We’ll drop a link in the “learn more” section below, for a way of addressing this.
For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
The Best Exercise to Stop Your Legs From Giving Out ← this one’s a little different; if your legs are plenty strong but you have a connective tissue disorder that causes your joints to occasionally just collapse for no obvious reason
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
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How Emotions Are Made – by Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett
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We’ve previously reviewed Dr. Barrett’s (also good) book Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain, and this one is very different, and of more practical use:
The main thrust of the book is: the bioessentialist model of emotions is flawed; there is also no Platonic perfect form of any given emotion, and in fact emotions are constructed by the brain as a learned adaptive response.
She argues this from the dual vectors of on the one hand hard sciences of affective neuroscience and clinical psychology, and on the other hand sociology and anthropology.
In the category of criticism: Dr. Barrett, a very well-known and well-respected cognitive neuroscientist, is not an expert on sociology and anthropology, and some of her claims there are verifiably false.
However, most of the book is given over the psychophysiology, which is entirely her thing, and she explains it clearly and simply while backing everything up with mountains of data.
The usefulness of this book is chiefly: if we understand that emotions are not innate and are instead constructed adaptive (and sometimes maladaptive) neurological responses to stimuli and associations, we can set about rewiring things a little in accord with what’s actually more beneficial to us. The book also outlines how.
Bottom line: if you’d like to be able to not merely manage emotions as they are, but also prune and/or grow them from the stem up, then this book provides a robustly scientific approach for doing that.
Click here to check out How Emotions Are Made, and get more discerning about yours!
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