Sometimes, Perfect Isn’t Practical!

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It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!

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

❝10 AM breakfast is not realistic for most. What’s wrong with 8 AM and Evening me at 6. Don’t quite understand the differentiation.❞

(for reference, this is about our “Breakfasting For Health?” main feature)

It’s not terrible to do it the way you suggest It’s just not optimal, either, that’s all!

Breakfasting at 08:00 and then dining at 18:00 is ten hours apart, so no fasting benefits between those. Let’s say you take half an hour to eat dinner, then eat nothing again until breakfast, that’s 18:30 to 08:00, so that’s 13½ hours fasting. You’ll recall that fasting benefits start at 12 hours into the fast, so that means you’d only get 1½ hours of fasting benefits.

As for breakfasting at 08:00 regardless of intermittent fasting considerations, the reason for the conclusion of around 10:00 being optimal, is based on when our body is geared up to eat breakfast and get the most out of that, which the body can’t do immediately upon waking. So if you wake and get sunlight at 08:30, get a little moderate exercise, then by 10:00 your digestive system will be perfectly primed to get the most out of breakfast.

However! This is entirely based on you waking and getting sunlight at 08:30.

So, iff you wake and get sunlight at 06:30, then in that case, breakfasting at 08:00 would give the same benefits as described above. What’s important is the 1½ hour priming-time.

Writer’s note: our hope here is always to be informational, not prescriptive. Take what works for you; ignore what doesn’t fit your lifestyle.

I personally practice intermittent fasting for about 21hrs/day. I breakfast (often on nuts and perhaps a little salad) around 16:00, and dine at around 18:00ish, giving myself a little wiggleroom. I’m not religious about it and will slide it if necessary.

As you can see: that makes what is nominally my breakfast practically a pre-dinner snack, and I clearly ignore the “best to eat in the morning” rule because that’s not consistent with my desire to have a family dinner together in the evening while still practicing the level of fasting that I prefer.

Science is science, and that’s what we report here. How we apply it, however, is up to us all as individuals!

Enjoy!

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  • Undoing The Damage Of Life’s Hard Knocks

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    Sometimes, What Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Insecure

    We’ve written before about Complex PTSD, which is much more common than the more popularly understood kind:

    PTSD, But, Well…. Complex.

    Given that C-PTSD affects so many people (around 1 in 5, but really, do read the article above! It explains it better than we have room to repeat today), it seems like a good idea to share tips for managing it.

    (Last time, we took all the space for explaining it, so we just linked to some external resources at the end)

    What happened to you?

    PTSD has (as a necessity, as part of its diagnostic criteria) a clear event that caused it, which makes the above question easy to answer.

    C-PTSD often takes more examination to figure out what tapestry of circumstances (and likely but not necessarily: treatment by other people) caused it.

    Often it will feel like “but it can’t be that; that’s not that bad”, or “everyone has things like that” (in which case, you’re probably one of the one in five).

    The deeper questions

    Start by asking yourself: what are you most afraid of, and why? What are you most ashamed of? What do you fear that other people might say about you?

    Often there is a core pattern of insecurity that can be summed up in a simple, harmful, I-message, e.g:

    • I am a bad person
    • I am unloveable
    • I am a fake
    • I am easy to hurt
    • I cannot keep my loved ones safe

    …and so forth.

    For a bigger list of common insecurities to see what resonates, check out:

    Basic Fears/Insecurities, And Their Corresponding Needs/Desires

    Find where they came from

    You probably learned bad beliefs, and consequently bad coping strategies, because of bad circumstances, and/or bad advice.

    • When a parent exclaimed in anger about how stupid you are
    • When a partner exclaimed in frustration that always mess everything up
    • When an employer told you you weren’t good enough

    …or maybe they told you one thing, and showed you the opposite. Or maybe it was entirely non-verbal circumstances:

    • When you gambled on a good idea and lost everything
    • When you tried so hard at some important endeavour and failed
    • When you thought someone could be trusted, and learned the hard way that you were wrong

    These are “life’s difficult bits”, but when we’ve lived through a whole stack of them, it’s less like a single shattering hammer-blow of PTSD, and more like the consistent non-stop tap tap tap that ends up doing just as much damage in the long run.

    Resolve them

    That may sound a bit like a “and quickly create world peace” level of task, but we have tools:

    Ask yourself: what if…

    …it had been different? Take some time and indulge in a full-blown fantasy of a life that was better. Explore it. How would those different life lessons, different messages, have impacted who you are, your personality, your behaviour?

    This is useful, because the brain is famously bad at telling real memories from false ones. Consciously, you’ll know that one was an exploratory fantasy, but to your brain, it’s still doing the appropriate rewiring. So, little by little, neuroplasticity will do its thing.

    Tell yourself a better lie

    We borrowed this one from the title of a very good book which we’ve reviewed previously.

    This idea is not about self-delusion, but rather that we already express our own experiences as a sort of narrative, and that narrative tends to contain value judgements that are often not useful, e.g. “I am stupid”, “I am useless”, and all the other insecurities we mentioned earlier. Some simple examples might be:

    • “I had a terrible childhood” → “I have come so far”
    • “I should have known better” → “I am wiser now”
    • “I have lost so much” → “I have experienced so much”

    So, replacing that self-talk can go a long way to re-writing how secure we feel, and therefore how much trauma-response (ideally: none!) we have to stimuli that are not really as threatening as we sometimes feel they are (a hallmark of PTSD in general).

    Here’s a guide to more ways:

    How To Get Your Brain On A More Positive Track (Without Toxic Positivity)

    Take care!

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  • We Are Such Stuff As Fish Are Made Of

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    Research Review: Collagen

    For something that’s a very popular supplement, not many people understand what collagen is, where it comes from, or what it does.

    In a nutshell:

    Collagen is a kind of protein. Our bodies make it naturally, and we can also get more in our diet and/or take extra as a supplement.

    Our bodies use collagen in connective tissue, skin, tendon, bone, and cartilage. It has many functions, but a broad description would be “holding things together”.

    As we get older, our bodies produce less collagen. Signs of this include wrinkles, loss of skin hydration, and joint pain.

    Quick test: pinch the skin on the middle of the back of one of your hands, and then watch what happens when you get low. How quickly and easily did your skin returns to its original shape?

    If it was pretty much instantanous and flawless, congratulations, you have plenty of collagen (and also elastin). If you didn’t, you are probably low on both!

    (they are quite similar proteins and are made from the same base “stuff”, so if you’re low on one, you’ll usually be low on both)

    Quick note: A lot of research out there has been funded by beauty companies, so we had our work cut out for us today, and have highlighted where any research may be biased.

    More than skin deep

    While marketing for collagen is almost exclusively aimed at “reduce wrinkles and other signs of aging”, it does a lot more than that.

    You remember we mentioned that many things from the bones outward are held together by collagen? We weren’t kidding…

    Read: Osteoporosis, like skin ageing, is caused by collagen loss which is reversible

    Taking extra collagen isn’t the only way

    We can’t (yet!) completely halt the age-related loss of collagen, but we can slow it, with our lifestyle choices:

    Can I get collagen from food?

    Yep! Just as collagen holds our bodies together, it holds the bodies of other animals together. And, just like collagen is found in most parts of our body but most plentifully in our skin and bones, that’s what to eat to get collagen from other animals, e.g:

    • Chicken skin
    • Fish skin
    • Bone broth ← health benefits and recipes at this link!

    What about vegans?

    Yes, vegans are also held together by collagen! We do not, however, recommend eating their skin or boiling their bones into broth. Ethical considerations aside, cannibalism can give you CJD!

    More seriously, if you’re vegan, you can’t get collagen from a plant-based diet, but you can get the stuff your body uses to make collagen. Basically, you want to make sure you get plenty of:

    Read: Diet and Dermatology: The Role of a Whole-food, Plant-based Diet in Preventing and Reversing Skin Aging

    Just be sure to continue to remember to avoid highly-processed foods. So:

    • Soy mince/chunks whose ingredients list reads: “soya”? Yes!
    • The Incredible Burger or Linda McCartney’s Sausages? Sadly less healthy

    Read: Advanced Glycation End Products in Foods and a Practical Guide to Their Reduction in the Diet

    Meat-eaters might want to read that one too. By far the worst offenders for AGEs (Advanced Glycation End Products, which can not only cause collagen to stiffen, but also inactivate proteins responsible for collagen repair, along with doing much more serious damage to your body’s natural functions) include:

    • Hot dogs
    • Bacon
    • Fried/roasted/grilled meats

    Is it worth it as a supplement?

    That depends on you, your age, and your lifestyle, but it’s generally considered safe*

    *if you have a seafood allergy, be careful though, as many supplements are from fish or shellfish—you will need to find one that’s free from your allergen

    Also, all collagen is animal-derived. So if you’re a vegan, decide for yourself whether this constitutes medicine and if so, whether that makes it ethically permissible to you.

    With that out of the way:

    What the science says on collagen supplementation

    Collagen for skin

    Read: Effects of collagen supplementation on skin aging (systematic review and meta-analysis)

    The short version is that they selected 19 studies with over a thousand participants in total, and they found:

    In the meta-analysis, a grouped analysis of studies showed favorable results of hydrolyzed collagen supplementation compared with placebo in terms of skin hydration, elasticity, and wrinkles.

    The findings of improved hydration and elasticity were also confirmed in the subgroup meta-analysis.

    Based on results, ingestion of hydrolyzed collagen for 90 days is effective in reducing skin aging, as it reduces wrinkles and improves skin elasticity and hydration.

    Caveat: while that systematic review had no conflicts of interests, at least some of the 19 studies will have been funded by beauty companies. Here are two, so that you know what that looks like:

    Funded by Quiris to investigate their own supplement, Elasten®:

    A Collagen Supplement Improves Skin Hydration, Elasticity, Roughness, and Density

    Funded by BioCell to investigate their own supplement, BioCell Collagen:

    The Effects of Skin Aging Associated with the Use of BioCell Collagen

    A note on funding bias: to be clear, the issue is not that the researchers might be corrupt (though that could happen).

    The issue is more that sometimes companies will hire ten labs to do ten research studies… and then pull funding from ones whose results aren’t going the way they’d like.

    So the “best” (for them) study is the one that gets published.

    Here’s another systematic review—like the one at the top of this section—that found the same, with doses ranging from 2.5g–15g per day for 8 weeks or longer:

    Read: Oral Collagen Supplementation: A Systematic Review of Dermatological Applications

    Again, some of those studies will have been funded by beauty companies. The general weight of evidence does seem clear and favorable, though.

    Collagen for bones

    Here, we encountered a lot less in the way of potential bias, because this is simply marketed a lot less. Despite being arguably far more important!

    We found a high quality multi-vector randomized controlled study with a sample size of 131 postmenopausal women. They had these women take 5g collagen supplement (or placebo), and studied the results over the course of a year.

    They found:

    • The intake of the supplement increased bone mineral density (BMD)
    • Supplementation was also associated with a favorable shift in bone markers, indicating:
      • increased bone formation
      • reduced bone degradation

    Read: Specific Collagen Peptides Improve Bone Mineral Density and Bone Markers in Postmenopausal Wome

    A follow-up study with 31 of these women found that taking 5 grams of collagen daily for a total of 4 years was associated with a progressive increase in BMD.

    You might be wondering if collagen also helps against osteoarthritis.

    The answer is: yes, it does (at least, it significantly reduces the symptoms)

    Read: Effect of collagen supplementation on osteoarthritis symptoms

    In summary:

    • You need collagen for health skin, bones, joints, and more
    • Your body makes collagen from your food
    • You can help it by getting plenty of protein, vitamins, and minerals
    • You can also help it by not doing the usual Bad Things™ (smoking, drinking, eating processed foods, especially processed meats)
    • You can also eat collagen directly in the form of other animals’ skin and bones
    • You can also buy collagen supplements (but watch out for allergens)

    Want to try collagen supplementation?

    We don’t sell it (or anything else), but for your convenience…

    Check it out: Hydrolyzed Collagen Peptides (the same as in most of the above studies), 90 days supply at 5g/day

    We selected this one because it’s the same kind used in many of the studies, and it doesn’t contain any known allergens.

    It’s bovine collagen, meaning it’s from cows, so it’s not vegan, and also some subscribers may want to abstain for religious reasons. We respect that, and/but make our recommendations based solely on the science of health and productivity.

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  • Can Saturated Fats Be Healthy?

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    Saturated Fat: What’s The Truth?

    We asked you for your health-related opinion of saturated fat, and got the above-pictured, below-described, set of results.

    • Most recorded votes were for “Saturated fat is good, but only some sources, and/or in moderation”
      • This is an easy one to vote for, because of the “and/or in moderation” part, which tends to be a “safe bet” for most things.
    • Next most popular was “Saturated fat is terrible for the health and should be avoided”
    • About half as many recorded votes were for “I’m not actually sure what makes saturated fat different”, which is a very laudable option to click. Admitting when we don’t know things (and none of us know everything) is a very good first step to learning about them!
    • Fewest recorded votes were for “Saturated fat is the best source of energy; we should get plenty”.

    So, what does the science say?

    First, a bit of physics, chemistry, and biology

    You may be wondering what, exactly, saturated fats are “saturated” with. That’s a fair question, so…

    All fats have a molecular structure made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. Saturated fats are saturated with hydrogen, and thus have only single bonds between carbon atoms (unsaturated fats have at least one double-bond between carbon atoms).

    The observable effect this has on them, is that fats that are saturated with hydrogen are solid at room temperature, whereas unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. Their different properties also make for different interactions inside the human body, including how likely or not they are to (for example) clog arteries.

    See also: Could fat in your bloodstream cause blood clots?

    Saturated fat is the best source of energy; we should get plenty: True or False?

    False, in any reasonable interpretation, anyway. That is to say, if your idea of “plenty” is under 13g (e.g: two tablespoons of butter, and no saturated fat from other sources, e.g. meat) per day, then yes, by all means feel free to eat plenty. More than that, though, and you might want to consider trimming it down a bit.

    The American Heart Association has this to say:

    ❝When you hear about the latest “diet of the day” or a new or odd-sounding theory about food, consider the source.

    The American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fats, which are found in butter, cheese, red meat and other animal-based foods, and tropical oils.

    Decades of sound science has proven it can raise your “bad” cholesterol and put you at higher risk for heart disease.❞

    Source: The American Heart Association Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations on Saturated Fat

    The British Heart Foundation has a similar statement:

    ❝Despite what you read in the media, our advice is clear: replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats and avoid trans fats. Saturated fat is the kind of fat found in butter, lard, ghee, fatty meats and cheese. This is linked to an increased risk of heart and circulatory disease❞

    Source: British Heart Foundation: What does fat do and what is saturated fat?

    As for the World Health Organization:

    ❝1. WHO strongly recommends that adults and children reduce saturated fatty acid intake to 10% of total energy intake

    2. WHO suggests further reducing saturated fatty acid intake to less than 10% of total energy intake

    3. WHO strongly recommends replacing saturated fatty acids in the diet with polyunsaturated fatty acids; monounsaturated fatty acids from plant sources; or carbohydrates from foods containing naturally occurring dietary fibre, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits and pulses.❞

    Source: Saturated fatty acid and trans-fatty acid intake for adults and children: WHO guideline

    Please note, organizations such as the AHA, the BHF, and the WHO are not trying to sell us anything, and just would like us to not die of heart disease, the world’s #1 killer.

    As for “the best source of energy”…

    We evolved to eat (much like our nearest primate cousins) a diet consisting mostly of fruits and other edible plants, with a small supplementary amount of animal-source protein and fats.

    That’s not to say that because we evolved that way we have to eat that way—we are versatile omnivores. But for example, we are certainly not complete carnivores, and would quickly sicken and die if we tried to live on only meat and animal fat (we need more fiber, more carbohydrates, and many micronutrients that we usually get from plants)

    The closest that humans tend to come to doing such is the ketogenic diet, which focuses on a high fat, low carbohydrate imbalance, to promote ketosis, in which the body burns fat for energy.

    The ketogenic diet does work, and/but can cause a lot of health problems if a lot of care is not taken to avoid them.

    See for example: 7 Keto Risks To Keep In Mind

    Saturated fat is terrible for the health and should be avoided: True or False?

    False, if we are talking about “completely”.

    Firstly, it’s practically impossible to cut out all saturated fats, given that most dietary sources of fat are a mix of saturated, unsaturated (mono- and poly-), and trans fats (which are by far the worst, but beyond the scope of today’s main feature).

    Secondly, a lot of research has been conducted and found insignificant or inconclusive results, in cases where saturated fat intake was already within acceptable levels (per the recommendations we mentioned earlier), and then cut down further.

    Rather than fill up the newsletter with individual studies of this kind here’s a high-quality research review, looking at 19 meta-analyses, each of those meta-analyses having looked at many studies:

    Dietary saturated fat and heart disease: a narrative review

    Saturated fat is good, but only some sources, and/or in moderation: True or False?

    True! The moderation part is easy to guess, so let’s take a look at the “but only some sources”.

    We were not able to find any convincing science to argue for health-based reasons to favor plant- or animal-sourced saturated fat. However…

    Not all saturated fats are created equal (there are many kinds), and also many of the foods containing them have additional nutrients, or harmful compounds, that make a big difference to overall health, when compared gram-for-gram in terms of containing the same amount of saturated fat.

    For example:

    1. Palm oil’s saturated fat contains a disproportionate amount of palmitic acid, which raises LDL (“bad” cholesterol) without affecting HDL (“good” cholesterol), thus having an overall heart-harmful effect.
    2. Most animal fats contain a disproportionate amount of stearic acid, which has statistically insignificant effects on LDL and HDL levels, and thus is broadly considered “heart neutral (in moderation!)
    3. Coconut oil’s saturated fat contains a disproportionate amount of lauric acid, which raises total cholesterol, but mostly HDL without affecting LDL, thus having an overall heart-beneficial effect (in moderation!)

    Do you know what’s in the food you eat?

    Test your knowledge with the BHF’s saturated fat quiz!

    Enjoy!

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  • Flax Seeds vs Pumpkin Seeds – Which is Healthier?

    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.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing flax seeds to pumpkin seeds, we picked the flax.

    Why?

    Looking at the macros first, they are equal on protein, and flax seeds have a lot more fiber while pumpkin seeds have a lot more carbs. We’re going to prioritise fiber over carbs and call this a win for flax.

    In terms of vitamins, flax seeds have a lot more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, C, E, K, and choline, while pumpkin seeds have a tiny bit more vitamin A. An easy win for flax here.

    When it comes to minerals, flax has multiples more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and selenium, while pumpkin seeds have more zinc. Another win for flax.

    Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for flax, but by all means enjoy either or both; diversity is good!

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    What’s Your Plant Diversity Score? ← seeds count as plants!

    Enjoy!

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  • Pistachios vs Pecans – Which is Healthier?

    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.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing pistachios to pecans, we picked the pistachios.

    Why?

    Firstly, the macronutrients: pistachios have twice as much protein and fiber. Pecans have more fat, though in both of these nuts the fats are healthy.

    The category of vitamins is an easy win for pistachios, with a lot more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, C, and E. Especially the 8x vitamin A, 7x vitamin B6, 4x vitamin C, and 2x vitamin E, and as the percentages are good too, these aren’t small differences. Pecans, meanwhile, boast only a little more vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid, the one whose name means “it’s everywhere”, because that’s how easy it is to get it).

    In terms of minerals, pistachios have more calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium, while pecans have more manganese and zinc. So, a fair win for pistachios on this one.

    Adding up the three different kinds of win for pistachios means that *drumroll* pistachios win overall, and it’s not close.

    As ever, do enjoy both though, because diversity is healthy!

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Take care!

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  • Signs Of Low Estrogen In Women: What Your Skin, Hair, & Nails Are Trying To Tell You

    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.

    Skin, hair, and nails are often thought of purely as a beauty thing, but in fact they can be indicative of a lot of other aspects of health. Dr. Andrea Suarez takes us through some of them in this video about the systemic (i.e., whole-body, not just related to sex things) effects of estrogen, and/or a deficiency thereof.

    Beyond the cosmetic

    Low estrogen levels are usual in women during and after untreated menopause, resulting in various changes in the skin, hair, and nails, that reflect deeper issues, down to bone health, heart health, brain health, and more. Since we can’t see our bones or hearts or brains without scans (or a serious accident/incident), we’re going to focus on the outward signs of estrogen deficiency.

    Estrogen helps maintain healthy collagen production, skin elasticity, wound healing, and moisture retention, making it essential for youthful and resilient skin. Declining estrogen levels with menopause lead to a thinner epidermis, decreased collagen production, and more pronounced wrinkles. Skin elasticity also diminishes, which slows the skin’s ability to recover from stretching or deformation. Wound healing also becomes slower, increasing the risk of infections and extended recovery periods after injuries or surgeries—bearing in mind that collagen is needed in everything from our skin to our internal connective tissue (fascia) and joints and bones. So all those things are going to struggle to recover from injury (and surgery is also an injury) without it.

    Other visible changes associated with declining estrogen include significant dryness as a result of reduced hyaluronic acid and glycosaminoglycan production, which are essential for moisture retention. The skin becomes more prone to irritation and increased water loss. Additionally, estrogen deficiency results in less resistance to oxidative stress, making the skin more susceptible to damage from environmental factors such as UV radiation and pollution, as well as any from-the-inside pollution that some may have depending on diet and lifestyle.

    Acne and enlarged pores are associated with increased testosterone, but testosterone and estrogen are antagonistic in most ways, and in this case a decrease in estrogen will do the same, due increased unopposed androgen signaling affecting the oil glands. The loss of supportive collagen also causes the skin around pores to lose structure, making them appear larger. The reduction in skin hydration further exacerbates the visibility of pores and can contribute to the development of blackheads due to abnormal cell turnover.

    Blood vessel issues tend to arise as estrogen levels drop, leading to a reduction in angiogenesis, i.e. the formation and integrity of blood vessels. This results in more fragile and leaky blood vessels, making the skin more prone to bruising, especially on areas frequently exposed to the sun, such as the backs of the hands. This weakened vasculature also further contributes to the slower wound healing that we talked about, due to less efficient delivery of growth factors.

    Hair and nail changes often accompany estrogen deficiency. Women may notice hair thinning, increased breakage, and a greater likelihood of androgenic alopecia. The texture of the hair can change, becoming more brittle. Similarly, nails can develop ridges, split more easily, and become more fragile due to reduced collagen and keratin production, which also affects the skin around the nails.

    As for what to do about it? Management options for estrogen-deficient skin include:

    • Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which can improve skin elasticity, boost collagen production, and reduce dryness and fragility, as well as addressing the many more serious internal things that are caused by the same deficiency as these outward signs.
    • Low-dose topical estrogen cream, which can help alleviate skin dryness and increase skin strength, won’t give the systemic benefits (incl. to bones, heart, brain, etc) that only systemic HRT can yield.
    • Plant-based phytoestrogens, which are not well-evidenced, but may be better than nothing if nothing is your only other option. However, if you are taking anything other form of estrogen, don’t use phytoestrogens as well, or they will compete for estrogen receptors, and do the job not nearly so well while impeding the bioidentical estrogen from doing its much better job.

    And for all at any age, sunscreen continues to be one of the best things to put on one’s skin for general skin health, and this is even more true if running low on estrogen.

    For more on all of this, enjoy:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like:

    These Signs Often Mean These Nutrient Deficiencies (Do You Have Any?)

    Take care!

    Don’t Forget…

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    Learn to Age Gracefully

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