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 😎

❝Creatine is known to increase “puffiness”, especially in my face. Are there any supplements that do the opposite?!❞

So first, let’s examine why this happens: creatine is most often taken to boost muscle size and performance. Your muscles are, of course, mostly water by mass, and so building your muscles requires extra water, which triggers systemic water retention.

In other words: you take creatine, exercise, and as the muscles start growing, the body goes “oh heck, we are running out of water, better save as much as possible in order to keep hydrating the muscles without running out” and starts putting it anywhere it can that’s not your bladder, so this will largely be the soft tissues of your body.

So, this results in classic water retentions symptoms including bloating and, yes, facial puffiness.

How much this happens, and how long the effects last, depend on three main things:

• What daily dose of creatine you are taking
• What kind of exercise you are doing
• What your hydration is like

The dose is relevant as it’s most common to get this puffiness during the “loading” phase, i.e. if you’re taking an increased dose to start with.

The exercise is relevant as it affects how much your body is actually using the water to build muscles.

The hydration is relevant because the less water you are taking, the more the body will try to retain whatever you do have.

This means, of course, that the supplement you are looking for to undo the facial puffiness is, in fact, water (even, nay, especially, if you feel bloated too):

Water For Everything? Water’s Counterintuitive Properties

Additionally, you could scale back the dose of creatine you’re taking, if you’re not currently doing heavy muscle-building exercise.

That said, the recommended dose for cognitive benefits is 5g/day, which is a very standard main-phase (i.e., post-loading) bodybuilding dose, so do with that information what you will.

See also: Creatine’s Brain Benefits Increase With Age

On which note: whether or not you want to take creatine for brain benefits, however, may depend on your age:

Creatine: Very Different For Young & Old People

Most research on creatine’s effects on humans has usually been either collegiate athletes or seniors, which leaves quite a research gap in the middle—so it’s unclear at what age the muscle-building effects begin to taper off, and at what age the cognitive benefits begin to take off.

Want a quicker fix?

If you want to reduce your facial puffiness acutely (e.g., you have a date in an hour and would like to not have a puffy face), then there are two things you can do that will help immediately, and/but only have short-term effects, meaning you’d have to do them daily to enjoy the results every day:

The first is an ice bath; simply fill a large bowl with water and ice cubes, give it a couple of minutes to get down to temperature, hold your breath and plunge your face in for as long as you can comfortably hold your breath. Repeat a few times, and towel off.

This helps by waking up the vasculature in your face, helping it to reduce puffiness naturally.

The second is facial yoga or guā shā, which is the practice of physically manipulating the soft tissues of your face to put them where you want them, rather than where you don’t want them. This will work against water retention puffiness, as well as cortisol puffiness, lymphatic puffiness, and more:

7-Minute Face Fitness For Lymphatic Drainage & Youthful Jawline

Enjoy!

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

❝hi. how many almonds should one eat per day? do they need to be soaked? thank you.❞

Within reason, however many you like! Given that protein is an appetite suppressant, you’ll probably find it’s not too many.

Dr. Michael Greger, of “How Not To Die” fame, suggests aiming for 30g of nuts per day. Since almonds typically weigh about 1g each, that means 30 if it’s all almonds.

And if you’re wondering about 10 almonds? The name’s a deliberate reference to an old internet hoax about 10 almonds being the equivalent of an aspirin for treating a headache. It’s a reminder to be open-mindedly skeptical about information circulating wildly, and look into the real, evidence-based, science of things.

• Sometimes, the science validates claims, and we’re excited to share that!
• Sometimes, the science just shoots claims down, and it’s important to acknowledge when that happens too.

On which note, about soaking…

Short version: soaking can improve the absorption of some nutrients, but not much more than simply chewing thoroughly. See:

• A review of the impact of processing on nutrient bioaccessibility and digestion of almonds
• Mastication of almonds: effects of lipid bioaccessibility, appetite, and hormone response

Soaking does reduce certain “antinutrients” (compounds that block absorption of other nutrients), such as phytic acid. However, even a 24-hour soak reduces them only by about 5%:

Determination of d-myo-inositol phosphates in “activated” raw almonds using anion-exchange chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

If you don’t want to take 24-hours to get a 5% benefit, there’s good news! A 12-hour soak can result in 4% less phytic acid in chopped (but not whole) almonds:

The Effect of Soaking Almonds and Hazelnuts on Phytate and Mineral Concentrations

Lest that potentially underwhelming benefit leave a bitter taste in your mouth, one good thing about soaking almonds (if you don’t like bitter tastes, anyway) is that it will reduce their bitterness:

Bitter taste, phytonutrients, and the consumer: a review