Protein-Stuffed Bell Peppers

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Hot, tasty, meaty, and vegan! You can have it all. And with this recipe, you’ll want to err on the side of overcatering, because everyone will want some. As for healthiness, we’ve got lycopene, lutein and a stack of other carotenoids, a plethora of other polyphenols, and a veritable garden party of miscellaneous phytochemicals otherwise categorized. It’s full of protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, relatively low-fat but the fats present are healthy. It’s antidiabetic, anti-CVD, anticancer, antineurodegeneration, and basically does everything short of making you sing well too.

You will need

  • 4 large bell peppers, tops sliced open and innards removed (keep the tops; we will put them back on later)
  • 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 small zucchini (diced)
  • 1 small eggplant (diced)
  • 1 small red onion (finely chopped)
  • ½ bulb garlic, minced*
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp dried basil
  • 2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tsp black pepper, coarse ground
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp MSG or 1 tsp low-sodium salt

*we always try to give general guidelines with regard to garlic, but the reality is it depends on the size and strength of your local garlic, which we cannot account for, as well as your personal taste. Same situation with hot peppers of various kinds. This writer (it’s me, hi) would generally use about 2x the garlic and pepper advised in our recipes. All we can say is: follow your heart!

Method

(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

1) Combine the quinoa with the chia seeds, and cook as per normal cooking of quinoa (i.e. bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes until cooked and fluffy). Drain and rinse (carefully, without losing the chia seeds; use a sieve).

2) Heat your grill to a high heat. Combine the zucchini, eggplant, onion, garlic, and olive oil in a big bowl and mix well, ensuring an even distribution of the oil. Now also add the herbs and spices (including the MSG or salt) and mix well again. Put them all to grill for about 5 minutes, turning as necessary.

3) Heat your oven to a high heat. Take the grilled vegetables and combine them in a bowl with the quinoa-and-chia, and the black beans, as well as the tomato paste. Mix everything well. Spoon the mixture generously into the bell peppers, replacing the tops (it can be loosely), and bake for about 5–10 minutes, keeping an eye on them; you want them to be lightly charred, but not a burnt offering.

4) Serve! This dish works well as a light lunch or as part of a larger spread.

(before going in the oven with lids replaced to keep moisture in)

Enjoy!

Want to learn more?

For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

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  • How I Cured My Silent Reflux – by Don Daniels

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    Acid reflux, in its various forms (not all of which include heartburn as a symptom!), affects around 1 in 8 people. Often it takes the form of coughing or excess mucus after eating, and it can trigger ostensibly random sweats, for example.

    Don Daniels does an excellent job of demystifying the various kinds of acid reflux, explaining clearly and simply the mechanics of what is going on for each of them and why.

    Further, he talks about the medications that can make things worse (and how and why), and supplements that can make it better (and supplements that can make it worse, too!), and a multiphase plan (diet on, meds weaned off, supplements on, supplements weaned off when asymptomatic, diet adjust to a new normal) to get free from acid reflux.

    The writing style is simple, clear, and jargon-free, while referencing plenty of scientific literature, often quoting from it and providing sources, much like we often do at 10almonds. There are 50+ such references in all, for a 105-page book.

    So, do also note that yes, it’s quite a short book for the price, but the content is of value and wouldn’t have benefitted from padding of the kind that many authors do just to make the book longer.

    Bottom line: if you have, or suspect you may have, an acid reflux condition of any kind, then this book can guide you through fixing that.

    Click here to check out How I Cured My Silent Reflux, and put up with it no longer!

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  • Chickpeas vs Soybeans – Which is Healthier?

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    Our Verdict

    When comparing chickpeas to soybeans, we picked the soybeans.

    Why?

    Both are great! But:

    In terms of macros, chickpeas have more than 3x the carbs and only very slightly more fiber, while soybeans have more than 2x the protein. Given the ratio of carbs to fiber in each, soybeans also have the lower glycemic index, so all in all, we’re calling this a win for soybeans.

    In the category of vitamins, chickpeas have more of vitamins A, B3, B5, and B9, while soybeans have more of vitamins B1, B2, B6, C, K, and choline—another win for soybeans.

    When it comes to minerals, chickpeas have more manganese and zinc, while soybeans have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium—meaning soybeans win yet again.

    Two extra things to know:

    • Chickpeas are naturally high in FODMAPs, which can be problematic for a minority of people—however, canned chickpeas are not.
    • Soybeans are famously high in phytoestrogens, however, the human body cannot actually use these as estrogen (we are not plants and our physiology is different). This means that on the one hand they won’t help against menopause (aside from the ways in which any nutrient-dense food would help), but on the other, they aren’t a cancer risk, and no, they won’t feminize men/boys in the slightest. You/they would be more at risk from beef and dairy, as the cows have usually been given extra estrogen, and those are animal hormones, not plant hormones.

    All in all, chickpeas are a wonderful food, but soybeans beat them by most nutritional metrics.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Why You Can’t Skimp On Amino Acids ← soybeans also have a great amino acid profile!

    Enjoy!

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  • Reading As A Cognitive Exercise

    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.

    Reading, Better

    It is relatively uncontroversial to say that reading is good for cognitive health, but we don’t like to make claims without science if we can help it, so let’s get started:

    There was a 2021 study, which found that even when controlling for many other factors, including highest level of education, socioeconomic status, and generalized pre-morbid intelligence:

    ❝high reading activity, as defined by almost daily reading, was associated with lower odds of cognitive decline, compared to low reading activity❞

    ~ Dr. Carol Chan

    Source: Can reading increase cognitive reserve?

    However, not all reading is the same. And this isn’t just about complexity or size of vocabulary, either. It’s about engagement.

    And that level of engagement remains the key factor, no matter how quickly or slowly someone reads, as the brain tends to automatically adjust reading speed per complexity, because the brain’s “processing speed” remains the same:

    Read more: Cognitive coupling during reading

    Everyone’s “processing speed” is different (and is associated with generalized intelligence and executive functions), though as a general rule of thumb, the more we practice it, the faster our processing speed gets. So if you balked at the notion of “generalized intelligence” being a factor, be reassured that this association goes both ways.

    Read more: The unique contribution of working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and intelligence to reading comprehension and reading speed

    So is the key to just read more?

    That’s a great first step! But…

    The key factor still remains: engagement.

    So what does that mean?

    It is not just the text that engages you. You must also engage the text!

    This is akin to the difference between learning to drive by watching someone else do it, and learning by getting behind the wheel and having a go.

    When it comes to reading, it should not be a purely passive thing. Sure, if you are reading a fiction book at bedtime, get lost in it, by all means. But when it comes to non-fiction reading, engage with it actively!

    For example, I (your writer here, hi), when reading non-fiction:

    • Read at what is generally considered an unusually fast pace, but
    • Write so many notes in the margins of physical books, and
    • Write so many notes using the “Notes” function on my Kindle

    And this isn’t just like a studious student taking notes. Half the time I am…

    • objecting to content (disagreeing with the author), or
    • at least questioning it, or which is especially important, or
    • noting down questions that came to my mind as a result of what I am reading.

    This latter is a bit like:

    • when you are reading 10almonds, sometimes you will follow our links and go off down a research rabbit-hole of your own, and that’s great!
    • sometimes you will disagree with something and write to tell us, and that’s great too (when this happens, one or the other or all of us will learn something, and yes, we have published corrections before now)!
    • sometimes what you read here will prompt a further question, and you’ll send that to us, and guess what, also great! We love questions.

    Now, if your enjoyment of 10almonds is entirely passive, don’t let us stop you (we know our readers like quick-and-easy knowledge, and that’s good too), it’s just, the more you actively engage with it, the more you’ll get out of it.

    This, by the way, was also a lifelong habit of Leonardo da Vinci, which you can read about here:

    How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day – by Michael J. Gelb

    a very good book that we reviewed last year

    How you read (i.e. what medium) matters too!

    Are you reading this on a desktop/laptop, or a mobile device? That difference could matter more than the difference between paper and digital, according to this study from 2020 that found…

    ❝The cumulation of evidence from this and previous studies suggests that reading on a tablet affords different interactions between the reader and the text than reading on a computer screen.

    Reading on a tablet might be more similar to reading on paper, and this may impact the attentional processes during reading❞

    ~ Dr. Ugo Ballenghein et al.

    Read more: Cognitive engagement during reading on digital tablet: Evidence from concurrent recordings of postural and eye movements

    What if my mind wanders easily?

    You can either go with it, or train to improve focus.

    Going with it: just make sure you have more engaging reading to get distracted by. It’s all good.

    Training focus: this is trickier, but worthwhile, as executive function (you will remember from earlier) was an important factor too, and training focus is training executive function.

    As for one way to do that…

    Mindfulness training improves working memory capacity and GRE performance while reducing mind wandering

    If you’d like a primer for getting going with that, then you may enjoy our previous main feature:

    No-Frills, Evidence-Based Mindfulness

    Enjoy!

    Share This Post

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  • Foods for Stronger Bones

    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.

    It’s Q&A Day!

    Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!

    This newsletter has been growing a lot lately, and so have the questions/requests, and we love that! 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

    Q: Foods that help build stronger bones and cut inflammation? Thank you!

    We’ve got you…

    For stronger bones / To cut inflammation

    That “stronger bones” article is about the benefits of collagen supplementation for bones, but there’s definitely more to say on the topic of stronger bones, so we’ll do a main feature on it sometime soon!

    Don’t Forget…

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  • Clean Needles Save Lives. In Some States, They Might Not Be Legal.

    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.

    Kim Botteicher hardly thinks of herself as a criminal.

    On the main floor of a former Catholic church in Bolivar, Pennsylvania, Botteicher runs a flower shop and cafe.

    In the former church’s basement, she also operates a nonprofit organization focused on helping people caught up in the drug epidemic get back on their feet.

    The nonprofit, FAVOR ~ Western PA, sits in a rural pocket of the Allegheny Mountains east of Pittsburgh. Her organization’s home county of Westmoreland has seen roughly 100 or more drug overdose deaths each year for the past several years, the majority involving fentanyl.

    Thousands more residents in the region have been touched by the scourge of addiction, which is where Botteicher comes in.

    She helps people find housing, jobs, and health care, and works with families by running support groups and explaining that substance use disorder is a disease, not a moral failing.

    But she has also talked publicly about how she has made sterile syringes available to people who use drugs.

    “When that person comes in the door,” she said, “if they are covered with abscesses because they have been using needles that are dirty, or they’ve been sharing needles — maybe they’ve got hep C — we see that as, ‘OK, this is our first step.’”

    Studies have identified public health benefits associated with syringe exchange services. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says these programs reduce HIV and hepatitis C infections, and that new users of the programs are more likely to enter drug treatment and more likely to stop using drugs than nonparticipants.

    This harm-reduction strategy is supported by leading health groups, such as the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization, and the International AIDS Society.

    But providing clean syringes could put Botteicher in legal danger. Under Pennsylvania law, it’s a misdemeanor to distribute drug paraphernalia. The state’s definition includes hypodermic syringes, needles, and other objects used for injecting banned drugs. Pennsylvania is one of 12 states that do not implicitly or explicitly authorize syringe services programs through statute or regulation, according to a 2023 analysis. A few of those states, but not Pennsylvania, either don’t have a state drug paraphernalia law or don’t include syringes in it.

    Those working on the front lines of the opioid epidemic, like Botteicher, say a reexamination of Pennsylvania’s law is long overdue.

    There’s an urgency to the issue as well: Billions of dollars have begun flowing into Pennsylvania and other states from legal settlements with companies over their role in the opioid epidemic, and syringe services are among the eligible interventions that could be supported by that money.

    The opioid settlements reached between drug companies and distributors and a coalition of state attorneys general included a list of recommendations for spending the money. Expanding syringe services is listed as one of the core strategies.

    But in Pennsylvania, where 5,158 people died from a drug overdose in 2022, the state’s drug paraphernalia law stands in the way.

    Concerns over Botteicher’s work with syringe services recently led Westmoreland County officials to cancel an allocation of $150,000 in opioid settlement funds they had previously approved for her organization. County Commissioner Douglas Chew defended the decision by saying the county “is very risk averse.”

    Botteicher said her organization had planned to use the money to hire additional recovery specialists, not on syringes. Supporters of syringe services point to the cancellation of funding as evidence of the need to change state law, especially given the recommendations of settlement documents.

    “It’s just a huge inconsistency,” said Zoe Soslow, who leads overdose prevention work in Pennsylvania for the public health organization Vital Strategies. “It’s causing a lot of confusion.”

    Though sterile syringes can be purchased from pharmacies without a prescription, handing out free ones to make drug use safer is generally considered illegal — or at least in a legal gray area — in most of the state. In Pennsylvania’s two largest cities, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, officials have used local health powers to provide legal protection to people who operate syringe services programs.

    Even so, in Philadelphia, Mayor Cherelle Parker, who took office in January, has made it clear she opposes using opioid settlement money, or any city funds, to pay for the distribution of clean needles, The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported. Parker’s position signals a major shift in that city’s approach to the opioid epidemic.

    On the other side of the state, opioid settlement funds have had a big effect for Prevention Point Pittsburgh, a harm reduction organization. Allegheny County reported spending or committing $325,000 in settlement money as of the end of last year to support the organization’s work with sterile syringes and other supplies for safer drug use.

    “It was absolutely incredible to not have to fundraise every single dollar for the supplies that go out,” said Prevention Point’s executive director, Aaron Arnold. “It takes a lot of energy. It pulls away from actual delivery of services when you’re constantly having to find out, ‘Do we have enough money to even purchase the supplies that we want to distribute?’”

    In parts of Pennsylvania that lack these legal protections, people sometimes operate underground syringe programs.

    The Pennsylvania law banning drug paraphernalia was never intended to apply to syringe services, according to Scott Burris, director of the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University. But there have not been court cases in Pennsylvania to clarify the issue, and the failure of the legislature to act creates a chilling effect, he said.

    Carla Sofronski, executive director of the Pennsylvania Harm Reduction Network, said she was not aware of anyone having faced criminal charges for operating syringe services in the state, but she noted the threat hangs over people who do and that they are taking a “great risk.”

    In 2016, the CDC flagged three Pennsylvania counties — Cambria, Crawford, and Luzerne — among 220 counties nationwide in an assessment of communities potentially vulnerable to the rapid spread of HIV and to new or continuing high rates of hepatitis C infections among people who inject drugs.

    Kate Favata, a resident of Luzerne County, said she started using heroin in her late teens and wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for the support and community she found at a syringe services program in Philadelphia.

    “It kind of just made me feel like I was in a safe space. And I don’t really know if there was like a come-to-God moment or come-to-Jesus moment,” she said. “I just wanted better.”

    Favata is now in long-term recovery and works for a medication-assisted treatment program.

    At clinics in Cambria and Somerset Counties, Highlands Health provides free or low-cost medical care. Despite the legal risk, the organization has operated a syringe program for several years, while also testing patients for infectious diseases, distributing overdose reversal medication, and offering recovery options.

    Rosalie Danchanko, Highlands Health’s executive director, said she hopes opioid settlement money can eventually support her organization.

    “Why shouldn’t that wealth be spread around for all organizations that are working with people affected by the opioid problem?” she asked.

    In February, legislation to legalize syringe services in Pennsylvania was approved by a committee and has moved forward. The administration of Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, supports the legislation. But it faces an uncertain future in the full legislature, in which Democrats have a narrow majority in the House and Republicans control the Senate.

    One of the bill’s lead sponsors, state Rep. Jim Struzzi, hasn’t always supported syringe services. But the Republican from western Pennsylvania said that since his brother died from a drug overdose in 2014, he has come to better understand the nature of addiction.

    In the committee vote, nearly all of Struzzi’s Republican colleagues opposed the bill. State Rep. Paul Schemel said authorizing the “very instrumentality of abuse” crossed a line for him and “would be enabling an evil.”

    After the vote, Struzzi said he wanted to build more bipartisan support. He noted that some of his own skepticism about the programs eased only after he visited Prevention Point Pittsburgh and saw how workers do more than just hand out syringes. These types of programs connect people to resources — overdose reversal medication, wound care, substance use treatment — that can save lives and lead to recovery.

    “A lot of these people are … desperate. They’re alone. They’re afraid. And these programs bring them into someone who cares,” Struzzi said. “And that, to me, is a step in the right direction.”

    At her nonprofit in western Pennsylvania, Botteicher is hoping lawmakers take action.

    “If it’s something that’s going to help someone, then why is it illegal?” she said. “It just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

    This story was co-reported by WESA Public Radio and Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania.

    KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

    USE OUR CONTENT

    This story can be republished for free (details).

    KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

    Subscribe to KFF Health News’ free Morning Briefing.

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  • Behavioral Activation Against Depression & Anxiety

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    Behavioral Activation Against Depression & Anxiety

    Psychologists do love making fancy new names for things.

    You thought you were merely “eating your breakfast”, but now it’s “Happiness-Oriented Basic Behavioral Intervention Therapy (HOBBIT)” or something.

    This one’s quite simple, so we’ll keep it short for today, but it is one more tool for your toolbox:

    What is Behavioral Activation?

    Behavioral Activation is about improving our mood (something we can’t directly choose) by changing our behavior (something we usually can directly choose).

    An oversimplified (and insufficient, as we will explain, but we’ll use this one to get us started) example would be “whistle a happy tune and you will be happy”.

    Behavioral Activation is not a silver bullet

    Or if it is, then it’s the kind you have to keep shooting, because one shot is not enough. However, this becomes easier than you might think, because Behavioral Activation works by…

    Creating a Positive Feedback Loop

    A lot of internal problems in depression and anxiety are created by the fact that necessary and otherwise desirable activities are being written off by the brain as:

    • Pointless (depression)
    • Dangerous (anxiety)

    The inaction that results from these aversions creates a negative feedback loop as one’s life gradually declines (as does one’s energy, and interest in life), or as the outside world seems more and more unwelcoming/scary.

    Instead, Behavioral Activation plans activities (usually with the help of a therapist, as depressed/anxious people are not the most inclined to plan activities) that will be:

    • attainable
    • rewarding

    The first part is important, because the maximum of what is “attainable” to a depressed/anxious person can often be quite a small thing. So, small goals are ideal at first.

    The second part is important, because there needs to be some way of jump-starting a healthier dopamine cycle. It also has to feel rewarding during/after doing it, not next year, so short term plans are ideal at first.

    So, what behavior should we do?

    That depends on you. Behavioral Activation calls for keeping track of our activities (bullet-journaling is fine, and there are apps* that can help you, too) and corresponding moods.

    *This writer uses the pragmatic Daylio for its nice statistical analyses of bullet-journaling data-points, and the very cute Finch for more keyword-oriented insights and suggestions. Whatever works for you, works for you, though! It could even be paper and pen.

    Sometimes the very thought of an activity fills us with dread, but the actual execution of it brings us relief. Bullet-journaling can track that sort of thing, and inform decisions about “what we should do” going forwards.

    Want a ready-made brainstorm to jump-start your creativity?

    Here’s list of activities suggested by TherapistAid (a resource hub for therapists)

    Want to know more?

    You might like:

    Take care!

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    Learn to Age Gracefully

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